Trustees urged to decide quickly on $77,000 phase-two plumbing as contractors work on school

Trustees were told the district's plumbing contractor is actively working in the school basement and that further work into crawl spaces — a planned "phase two" — will require the board to decide quickly whether to proceed.

Staff said the work is underway and that "their goal is to be done by the end of July on this phase," but repeated that crews need to know whether the district will approve the additional work so they can schedule and continue without stopping. The board heard two different cost estimates during the discussion: an initial unclear figure that was corrected in the meeting to $77,000 for phase two and a separate estimate of about $58,000 to replace roofing over parts of the primary wing.

Board members and staff framed the choice as a near-term scheduling decision. One trustee said the district must tell contractors "as soon as possible" whether to proceed so crews can continue; another said that if the board were forced to prioritize, a new roof would be the preferred investment to avoid an imminent failure.

The board directed staff to schedule a buildings-and-grounds committee meeting within the next week so members can review estimates and recommend whether to fund phase two now or defer the remaining work until a future budget cycle. Trustees noted that budget projections at fiscal year-end will affect the decision and that the committee's guidance is needed before crews complete demolition around the fifth- and sixth-grade bathrooms.

No formal appropriation for the $77,000 was recorded on the public agenda that night; the board set a near-term committee meeting to develop a recommendation and asked staff to return budget numbers and options at the next regular meeting.