District presents facilities audit and four‑phase master plan; phase 1 to use existing PI funds

Lee Fuller, director of business affairs for the South Euclid‑Lyndhurst City School District, presented a facilities audit and a proposed four‑phase master facilities plan at the board meeting Tuesday, citing an Ameresco audit that averaged roughly a C grade across buildings.

Fuller said the audit, produced by Ameresco, covered school buildings and district facilities at no cost to the district and produced a prioritized list of repairs and upgrades. “Ameresco conducted a full facilities audit at no cost to the district,” Fuller said. He summarized a matrix that ties building square footage and condition to fund allocation targets so investments match identified needs.

Fuller described a fund‑allocation approach that weights each building’s share of district square footage and its share of identified upgrades. Using that method, he said Brush (sometimes referenced as Rush in internal slides) accounts for about 38.2% of district square footage and receives a fund allocation target of about 41.6% of upgrades. Fuller pointed out that Brush’s third floor is not currently used because of water penetration and related damage, and he estimated that third floor is about 4,000 square feet of unused space.

Phase 1 priorities include addressing student comfort issues caused by failing valves and temperature control, correcting water penetration at Brush to restore the third floor, and roofing repairs at Memorial. Fuller said phase 1 is the smallest in monetary terms and can be funded with leftover PI funds, so it does not require a community vote. “It is a phase that we don't need to go to the community for. It's a phase that was created out of being prudent fiscally with our money, and it's leftover funds from our previous PI,” Fuller said.

Phases 2 through 4 are larger and would be funded by future financing and, in part, voter approval. Fuller estimated the remaining phases at about $14 million each. He described phase 2 as focused on the performing arts center renovation, addressing space constraints in primary grades and renovating Southland to centralize preschool space. Phase 3 would emphasize HVAC and boiler upgrades districtwide plus tuckpointing; phase 4 would include a boiler plant replacement, districtwide roof replacements and restorations, elevator work, exterior doors and interior finishes.

Fuller said the plan aims to stagger work and financing to avoid continually reacting to failures and to use strategic maintenance to extend systems’ life. He said the district currently receives roughly $1 million per year in PI funds, which can be scheduled to align with project phases.

Board members asked for lifecycle information so taxpayers can understand how long replacements will last before another request, and Fuller said the audit spreadsheets include replacement costs, ages and recommended timing. Fuller proposed publishing a master facilities plan page on the district website to increase transparency and said the next steps include continued stakeholder engagement, board approval of levy language for a November ballot if needed, and beginning implementation of phase 1.