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District maintenance and IT staff warn of aging boilers, fiber damage and Chromebook budget squeeze
Summary
Maintenance and IT staff told the retreat the district faces aging boilers and HVAC units, an expensive recent fiber cut and constrained Chromebook replacement plans; they asked the board to consider staffing and capital priorities to reduce infrastructure risk.
Jeff Moder, director of maintenance, and Norm Warner, IT coordinator, gave the board an overview of facility and technology needs across the district.
Moder recounted near-term projects (painting, flooring and sidewalk repairs) and cautioned that multiple boilers and ventilation units are decades old with obsolete parts, which raises the risk of failures that are increasingly costly to repair. He flagged an unresolved water intrusion that removed a gym floor and said aging piping and heating units at several buildings will require investment.
Warner said the district has consolidated software and made progress on wiring and connectivity but experienced a fiber cut that required a roughly $31,000 repair and several days to restore service. He noted private fiber vulnerabilities and said the district is evaluating leased fiber as a long-term option to reduce on-call locating and repairs. Warner also said the district delayed planned Chromebook purchases this year to stretch current inventory while awaiting clarity on any future limits to screen time that legislators may impose.
Both staff asked for additional maintenance and IT staffing and recommended the board consider capital funding priorities to address aging HVAC, boilers and network reliability.
"When they cut it, they didn't yank it out of the ground like SCI did, so it wasn't obvious where it was...It's about a $31,000 repair," Warner said of a recent fiber hit.
