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District outlines deferred-maintenance plan; staff and union collaboration eyed to bring repairs in-house
Summary
District staff presented a new deferred maintenance plan calling out site-level priorities (asphalt, HVAC, roofing, fencing) and said the district will pursue training and job-class reclassification with unions to expand in-house maintenance capacity and lower outsourcing costs.
District operations staff briefed the facilities advisory committee on a new deferred maintenance plan that assigns multi-year budgets to every school site for routine and capital maintenance items such as asphalt, electrical/camera systems, fencing, flooring, HVAC, roofing, plumbing and gas.
"We currently have one HVAC position for the entire district," Raphael Guzman told the committee as he described the staffing gap the district hopes to address. Guzman said the district is negotiating with union partners to create a senior HVAC technician position who would coordinate repairs and develop in-house capacity. He said that some filter upgrades previously paid for with COVID-related funds (MERV-13 filters) strained older units when follow-up maintenance was not sustained.
John Nunees, maintenance and operations, walked committee members through the new site-by-site five-year projections and examples of unit costs (for example, a recent slurry/replacement at another campus cost roughly $75,000 and BenQ's near-term slurry/striping projection is about $40,000). The presenters described the plan as a living document; figures are based on recent local work and third-party cost estimation and will be updated annually.
Committee members pressed how quantities were calculated and whether more work should be done in-house. Presenters said historical costs and recent project data informed the estimates and noted the district is piloting trades training for custodians and examining job reclassification with Teamsters to attract certified trades staff so more plumbing, electrical and asphalt work can be completed internally.
Committee members repeatedly urged prioritizing core infrastructure that causes repeated disruption (electrical and plumbing failures, HVAC breakdowns) and asked staff to identify targeted red-zone repairs that could be advanced with limited funds while longer-term financing is arranged.
District staff said the deferred maintenance plan will be updated at subsequent committee meetings and that next deliverables include an RFP process update for district-wide HVAC assessment and quotes for large-ticket items.
The committee recorded no formal actions on this item and moved to the consultant's facilities master plan presentation.
