Downingtown board approves bond-funded HVAC, theater and track projects; student concerns on equipment age noted

The Downingtown Area School District board on July 8 approved a series of bond-funded facility projects the administration said address the district's most urgent infrastructure needs.

Superintendent Dr. O'Donnell said the district restructured debt service and issued $30 million in new money this spring to tackle facility priorities, then turned the presentation over to Kelly from facilities, who outlined tier 1 work the district proposes to fund with that package.

Kelly said the district is prioritizing HVAC and emergency-generator replacements at Bradford Heights, East Ward and Shimona Creek because those systems are more than 30 years old. He told the board the district also plans to upgrade theater lighting and control rooms at Downingtown East and West, perform rigging maintenance and replace unsafe rigging at two middle schools, and pursue site work and track restorations at both high schools.

On the consent agenda the board approved purchase orders and contracts tied to those priorities, including POs for loaders and turf tractors to replace aging grounds equipment, a $249,600 contract to upgrade building automation and temperature controls at Springton Manor Elementary, stage lighting upgrades at the two high schools, stage rigging replacement at Downingtown Middle and Lionville Middle (about $209,294 each), and a $620,500 contract to restore the tracks at Downingtown High School East and West. Each motion was seconded and recorded as passing in the meeting minutes.

The agenda lists one figure for Downingtown High School East's lighting at $383,183,972, which is unusually large for a school lighting upgrade and appears anomalous in the meeting record; the transcript contains that number as printed in the agenda, and the board approved the item as presented in the packet. The West lighting PO on the same agenda was listed at $425,697.

Board members and staff framed many of the purchases as replacements for equipment roughly three decades old; Kelly said replacing snow- and grounds-related equipment is a priority because "if we can't do snow removal, we can't get kids into the school." Members asked about equipment age, campus assignments for the new machines and safety-driven work at middle-school auditoriums.

Administration said synthetic turf for the high schools is likely to be discussed next month; tier 2 projects will be considered pending proceeds from the planned sale of the Lionville Station Road property.

The facilities approvals conclude a multi-topic meeting that also included personnel and curriculum action items and public comment on community access and student health policies. The board adjourned with no additional votes scheduled; the next regular meeting is Aug. 12 at 6:30 p.m. in the James E. Watson Staff Development Room.