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Weather damage, aging systems push board to seek bids for high school fire alarm replacement
Summary
After weather exposed multiple infrastructure failures and the high school's fire alarm system reached end-of-life, the Claymont board on Feb. 9 authorized advertising bids for a fire alarm replacement and discussed several emergency repairs at district buildings.
Buildings and Grounds Supervisor Bradon Smith told the board that severe weather had caused several failures at district facilities, including frozen lines that broke a sprinkler at the Intermediate School, a failing 20-year-old air handler for the gym/cafeteria, a boiler repair, and a repaired rooftop unit. Smith also reported that the high school fire alarm system is at end-of-life, is triggering spontaneously, and that replacement parts are increasingly difficult to obtain.
In response, the board authorized advertising bids for fire alarm replacement at Claymont High School. The authorization was made as part of the superintendent's recommendations and was approved by unanimous roll call; the minutes record that staff were directed to advertise for bids rather than proceed immediately with a vendor selection.
The minutes do not include cost estimates or a project timeline. The board discussed the trade-offs noted by Smith (for example, whether to replace the 20-year-old air handler with newer, larger equipment or to use smaller electric heaters that would require costly installation), and asked administrators to include options when returning capital planning recommendations.
