Garfield superintendent outlines $750,000 capital reserve and plan to replace aging heating systems after winter failures

Garfield Public School District Superintendent Doctor Tomko said the district is moving from emergency fixes to a planned, multi‑year effort to replace aging heating, ventilation and air‑conditioning systems after recent winter failures.

"We put $750,000 in there," Tomko told the board, describing a capital reserve earmarked specifically for facilities needs and a priority list of long‑term projects the administration will bring to the operations committee. He said many HVAC units in the district are "end of life" and that some older systems lack monitoring to alert staff when they fail.

The comments followed reports that the Early Childhood Learning Center (ECLC) had pressing boiler issues. Public commenter Sean Redzio told the board he received open‑records documents indicating that as of December only one of three boilers at ECLC was functioning. "That means that at any given time, you could have had children coming to the preschool and simply having no heat," Redzio said. Tomko responded that the district acted promptly, used available SDA monies to address redundancy concerns and engaged vendors and maintenance crews to restore operations.

Miss Labue said the School Development Authority (SDA) projects — including work at School 5 — are on schedule and that three boilers were replaced at ECLC "without people even realizing [it], because there was no disruption." She added that the district is installing electrical panels that will provide immediate notifications if classroom temperatures change.

Tomko warned the board that full replacement will be expensive and not immune to added complications. "I don't know if there's asbestos on those pipes," he said, noting that discovery of asbestos in pipe work or walls could pause projects and add cost. He also said energy costs and rising maintenance expenses have stressed the budget: "Our energy bills here for this board have doubled actually over the last year."

Administrators said some emergency repairs this winter — including roughly $117,000 of heating work referenced in public comment — were necessary to keep buildings safe and operational, but they framed that spending as distinct from the long‑term capital plan now being developed. Tomko described daily vendor and maintenance work to keep failing equipment running while the district prioritizes which systems to replace first.

The board and administration said they will present a prioritized capital list at the operations committee and seek board support for the longer work, recognizing the need to balance taxpayer impact and facility urgency. The superintendent emphasized safety and continuity of instruction as guiding priorities.