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District takes over HVAC from city, installs units and contracts Thayer LLC as HVAC vendor

Portland Public Schools Board of Directors · August 13, 2025

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Summary

Facilities director told the board the district assumed HVAC responsibility from the city in July to increase transparency; the summer work included five energy-efficient HVAC installations, a Moore Middle School fire-alarm, facade work at Portland High, vape-sensor installs and a new Thayer LLC HVAC contract.

Portland Public Schools informed the board that the district assumed direct responsibility for building HVAC systems from the city in July to increase transparency on costs and operations, and to allow the district to manage preventive maintenance and inspections.

Tamara Sweeney, director of facilities, reported the facilities team completed a long list of summer projects to prepare buildings for the school year, including replacing failed flooring at Presumpscott Elementary, finishing a facade improvement at Portland High School to protect historic character, installing five energy-efficient HVAC units across multiple sites, and adding vape sensors at high schools. The district also completed a new fire-alarm system at Moore Middle School.

Sweeney said the district welcomed Thayer LLC as the new HVAC contractor and noted that taking HVAC operations in-house may reveal additional issues during initial inspections and preventive maintenance: "as we begin more hands on inspections, preventative maintenance, we expect to uncover potential issues that we will need to address." She said the takeover was intended to improve transparency and efficiency because the city previously managed the systems "and we weren't in the know on most of this."

Board members asked site-specific questions, including whether Roe had HVAC upgrades (Sweeney said the district took over HVAC in July but had not yet completed HVAC installation at Roe and that recent quick-turnaround work there was cleaning and programming support) and where the five new HVAC units were installed (Paths, King, and Moore Middle School were cited). Sweeney said the facilities team will continue masonry, lighting and parking-lot projects in the fall and that a new trades worker and facilities manager were added to the budget and staff to increase response capacity.

The board framed the HVAC takeover as a move to improve oversight and asked for ongoing updates as inspections uncover work orders and costs.

Ending note: The facilities team said the work will continue through the school year and that more capital projects will be scheduled and reported to the finance and operations committee.