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Norwalk School District outlines roof, HVAC and facilities plan after harsh winter
Summary
Deputy Superintendent Sandra Fyoz told a community session the district will commission a roof‑by‑roof assessment, tier replacement needs into a capital plan and continue a multi‑year HVAC upgrade funded largely through a city‑matched grant with a 60% reimbursement. Interim repairs and prioritization are planned.
Sandra Fyoz, deputy superintendent for Norwalk School District, opened the facilities portion of the district’s community session with a description of current maintenance priorities and next steps to address aging school buildings.
"We are going to be bringing you very brief updates because the point is to just bring you some general updates and we've been pretty transparent with what we're struggling with," Fyoz said, introducing director of facilities Bill Hodell and maintenance supervisor George Seic.
Fyoz said the district has performed annual third‑party cleanliness assessments (including ATP swab testing) for several years and has seen year‑over‑year improvement; this year the district will augment the comparison with a broader review that includes a financial assessment to determine if improved staffing can reduce costs. The district makes summary reports available to committees and posts updates to the facilities committee (third Wednesday of each month), she said.
On roofs, Fyoz described multiple roof types across the district — newer white reflective membranes, older gravel roofs and some slate sections — and explained why gravel roofs complicate leak detection and repair. The district has contracted a firm to assess every roof, prioritize needs, and develop a capital replacement plan. "They’re going to come in...do an assessment of all our roofs, prioritize them, tier them, and then create a capital plan," she said. Until replacements can be funded, the district will use interim repairs and a contracted roofer to address active leaks.
Fyoz also reviewed a multi‑school HVAC upgrade that the city applied for with district support. The grant structure provided a roughly 60% reimbursement and a city match; most schools were eligible, but a small number (cited in the presentation as Wolfpit and Tracy) required additional electrical work and therefore did not fully qualify. She listed projects at Brian McMahon, Narameck, Rowan, Brookside and Silvermine and said some work is complete while other projects will continue through the summer. "At the end of this year...all our schools have air conditioning," she said, describing the district's phased progress.
During the Q&A, a parent raised an active mice problem at Tracy. Facilities staff said the district engaged a new exterminator and has used concentrated weekend treatments and traps; staff reported the situation "is progressively getting better" but asked parents to report persistent problems so teams can follow up.
On long‑range projects, Fyoz said the city delayed one school replacement application for roughly a year to allow a new state bill to increase reimbursement, an action the presentation said could yield additional savings "something like $6 million." She described the common project model of building a replacement on adjacent field space, moving students into the new facility, then demolishing the old building and completing field work.
The district signaled it will return to the facilities committee and the full board with the roof tiering and a capital plan once assessments are complete. For immediate concerns parents were directed to work with school principals and SGC co‑chairs to request evaluations for capital improvement consideration.
