The Jonathan Alders School Board is wrapping up a bevy of summer maintenance projects in time for the new school year.
Superintendent Gary Chapman informed the school board there were several maintenance projects completed, or soon to be completed, over the summer break. Chapman said the projects were finished on schedule, as students and teachers will be returning to the school Aug. 1 for extracurricular activities.
“Overall, with the amount and scope of work we’ve had to accomplish this summer, it’s a credit to (maintenance supervisor Mark Syx) and the work his crew is doing,” Chapman said. “I trust we’ll be ready to go.”
Chapman said new cooling towers have been installed at Jonathan Alder High School, a project that began its bidding process in January.
“This has been an ongoing project as far as the efficiency piece of that,” he said.
Chapman said the original cooling tower was installed 13 years ago. He said, “the efficiency of that has dwindled to where our compressors were overheating,” requiring frequent compressor replacements.
“We had air conditioning before, but it’s definitely more reliable, and we won’t be spending so much money on maintenance and upkeep,” he said.
For Jonathan Alder Junior High School, minor renovations to the office area to tear down a wall to create more space, have been completed. The pre bid meeting for the security vestibule renovation will begin today.
Chapman said there will be parking lot fixes among the schools, as part of a five-year maintenance schedule.
The district plans to seal cracks in the high school parking lot today, and will begin resurfacing and re-sealing the parking lots for Canaan Middle School and the bus garage within the next two weeks.
Chapman said the high school’s gymnasium is receiving the “final touches,” with pads being installed. The library is getting new carpet installed, and the carpet should be delivered to the district within two weeks.
Also at the meeting, the board:
-Approved the acceptance of a $300 anonymous donation to the junior high school’s cheerleading team for pom poms.
-Commended Joe and Angela Bennett for allowing the high school’s band to use their truck and trailer for the Plain City Fourth of July Parade.
-Agreed to keep breakfast and lunch prices the same for the 2018-2019 school year.
-Kept the student fees the same this year. For children from kindergarten to eighth grade, the fee has been $40 for the last three years, after the board removed a former technology fee.
-Approved of a contract agreement with Fanning Howey Associates for architectural design services.
The next board meeting will be held Aug. 13.