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Perkiomen Valley SD wins $1.1 million DCED grant to upgrade fire panels; district to cover 25% match
Summary
The district announced a $1.1 million award from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development to replace fire-panel infrastructure; with the required 25% local match the total package under discussion is about $1.375 million and staff outlined a phased plan and timelines through December 2026.
Perkiomen Valley School District officials told the Safety & Operations Committee that the district received DCED approval for a fire-panel upgrade grant.
Speaker 2 said the district applied for roughly $2.4 million to cover fire-panel work across buildings and was awarded $1.1 million; because the grant requires a 25% district contribution, the combined package under consideration is approximately $1.375 million. "The grant was officially awarded. It was approved," Speaker 2 said at the meeting.
Administration staff, represented in the meeting by Mr. Fabrizio, said they are now separating which buildings and systems fit within the $1.1 million award and are working with vendors to map scope and costs. Mr. Fabrizio said the vendor must redraw electrical plans in CAD, the district must obtain permits and the fire-system testing requires certified personnel; some buildings will require rewiring or phased work because components cannot be mixed across manufacturers.
Middle School East is targeted for first summer work because the building is scheduled to be offline during rooftop- and unit-vent replacement. Evergreen and other buildings would follow in a phased approach; staff noted timeline differences by building and cautioned that some work could require more than one summer depending on cabling and permit needs. The district said the grant program requires projects to be completed by December 2026.
Officials said the grant award presents an opportunity to reduce future capital needs but emphasized the board must consider which buildings are covered and whether additional phases or bonding will be needed. Speaker 4 asked for a per-building timeline and duration estimate so stakeholders can plan around summer programs and community uses.
Next steps: administration will finalize per-building scopes with the vendor, produce a timeline showing when each building would be offline for construction, and bring recommendations and any required resolutions to the full school board for approval.
