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Board approves $500,000 for South Creek Elementary chiller replacement after warnings of extended outages
Summary
The board voted to use $500,000 from the district repair and renovation lottery fund to proactively replace a 25‑year‑old chiller at South Creek Elementary; staff said a reactive failure could leave the school without air conditioning for months.
The Martin County Board of Education approved using $500,000 from the district’s repair and renovation lottery fund to replace the HVAC chiller at South Creek Elementary School.
Facilities staff explained that the current chiller is original to the building (about 25 years old) and has experienced recent mechanical failures. Brandon Barber (presenting to the board) said a series of reactive repairs would not be a responsible option and described the replacement timeline and consequences of failure: “This piece of equipment, if it were to fail and it’s not a question of if, but when this piece of equipment fails, South Creek Elementary School will be without air conditioners specifically, the entire school, for anywhere from 4 to 6 months.” He asked the board to approve using the repair and renovation funds for a proactive replacement.
Staff outlined the procurement timeline presented to the board: a mandatory pre‑bid meeting proposed for Jan. 8, 2026, a bid opening on Jan. 22, 2026, board approval of a contractor in February 2026 and roughly 20 weeks of lead time for equipment delivery; construction would begin in June 2026. Staff also noted that, even with a planned replacement, the school may be without air conditioning for about 30 days during the work.
A motion to approve the $500,000 allocation carried by voice vote. Presenters noted the district must also secure written approval from the county board as required for these funds.
The board thanked district maintenance staff and partner Dominion Power for recent emergency support after a separate transformer failure at South Creek Middle School.
