Chandler Unified board approves $150,000 increase to HVAC maintenance contract

The Chandler Unified School District governing board on April 23 approved a $150,000 increase to its statewide HVAC maintenance, repair and emergency-services contract with EMCOR Services, raising the district's estimated fiscal-year expenditure under the contract to $750,000.

The increase, presented by district staff, covers a set of planned component replacements across several campuses and a $94,000 contingency for emergency repairs. "The $150,000 increase will allow the district to provide the following: boiler burner replacement at Chandler High School pool, approximately $5,000; chiller wire harness replacement at Fry, approximately $40,000; secondary pump VFD replacement at Jacobson, approximately $6,000; secondary pump EMS repairs at Rice, approximately $5,000," District staff member Mrs. Berry said during the meeting. She added the contingency is intended "for emergency repairs or unexpected equipment failures that may occur due to the increased demands placed on HVAC systems as temperatures arise."

Why it matters: Board members said maintaining HVAC systems is essential for student and staff comfort, operational continuity and safety, and that aging facilities plus rising summer temperatures make timely repairs and contingency funding important. "We lose an HVAC system in a school. We can't use the school," a board member observed during discussion, urging the importance of capital reserves.

Tom Dunn, a district facilities official, described ongoing and upcoming work and identified a larger replacement need at one site: "We have a chiller at Basha Elementary. We have one operating. We have a rental and we're working with the School Facilities Division for replacement. Estimated cost is about $1,200,000." Dunn told the board the district is prioritizing large replacements and preventative maintenance across its roughly 5,500,000 square feet of building space but that not every failure can be predicted.

District staff said some HVAC replacement projects have been funded through the 2019 voter-approved bond program, and that routine preventative maintenance is paid from maintenance-and-operations funds. The staff presentation noted the contract increase is within the district's budget and follows the board's regular practice of approving estimated contract expenditure increases that exceed $250,000.

The motion to approve the contract increase (state contract CTR049764) was made and seconded during the meeting and passed unanimously. The board also approved the evening's consent agenda earlier in the meeting; one board member recorded an abstention on the consent vote.

The district will use the increased authorization to complete the listed component replacements and to retain budget capacity should additional emergency repairs be needed before the end of the fiscal year. Facilities staff said the district continues to track and prioritize major capital replacements while holding roughly $14 million in reserves outside of bond-funded projects for larger unexpected needs.