Washoe trustees approve $580,000 bid to harden Marcy Herz Middle School restrooms after repeated vandalism

The Washoe County School District Board of Trustees voted 7-0 on June 10 to award bid 25-101-BD-04-DA — general use restroom improvements at Marcy Herz Middle School — to Tsai Legacy Floor Finishings for $580,000.

District Chief Facilities Management Officer Tammy Zimmerman told trustees the work responds to repeated, serious vandalism in the school’s restrooms. “We had significant vandalism and damage in those restrooms to where they were carving into the drywall through and and pass into the other stall area,” Zimmerman said. She said the project installs fiberglass panels covered with a methyl methacrylate (MMA) surface intended to be harder to damage and easier to clean.

Board President Smith brought the item forward after the consent agenda was reconfirmed because of an earlier agenda numbering discrepancy. Zimmerman said the cost will be paid from funds originally budgeted for Marcy Herz’s initial building and not from the district’s capital renewal budget.

Trustees pressed for details. Trustee Westlake asked whether the panels were “fiberglass or vinyl” and whether cameras captured the vandalism; Zimmerman described the panels and the MMA topcoat as “a more hardened surface that they can’t — it takes a lot to vandalize” and said questions about cameras were off the agenda. Westlake added she was “disappointed that the students here cause such extreme vandalism,” saying the damage had forced costly repairs. Trustee Hall said she was “reluctantly” voting in favor, citing the expense but noting custodial staff and safety concerns.

Trustee Westlake and others said the district has shifted to the hardened MMA-facing in newer schools and would continue that specification going forward. Zimmerman estimated the work will cover multiple wings of the campus and roughly “at least 50 to 80 stalls,” but said she would need to confirm an exact count.

No public speakers had registered for the consent item before the board’s vote; two attendees who had been in the meeting earlier addressed damage at Marcy Herz during general public comment. Substituting custodial-friendly, vandal-resistant materials was the remedy the district recommended, and the motion to approve the contract was moved and seconded and carried unanimously.

The vote closes consent item 2.12. Individual project design and construction schedules will be set by facilities staff and return as required for implementation updates and any further board approvals.

Votes at a glance: Motion to award bid 25-101-BD-04-DA to Tsai Legacy Floor Finishings in the amount of $580,000 — mover: Clerk Woodley; seconder: Trustee Westlake; outcome: approved, 7–0.

Why it matters: The board’s decision spends site-specific construction funds to address sanitation, safety and repeated vandalism at a campus that opened recently. Trustees said they want the district to continue incorporating the hardened finish in new schools to reduce repeat repairs and custodial burden.