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At the Monday, August 19 meeting of the Sudbury Public Schools School Committee, Superintendent Brad Crozier walked the committee through a capital projects update with Combined Facilities Director, Sandra Duran.
The focus of the discussion centered on the HVAC projects at Ephraim Curtis Middle School and Josiah Haynes Elementary School. The district has been struggling to find enough money to fund the project after the bid came in higher than expected and they learned that a new control system would be required for the retrofitted equipment to function properly.
The Energy and Sustainability Committee recently voted not to provide funds from the Solar Energy Revolving Fund because they did not feel the project was consistent with their mission and purpose. The project would use a refrigerant that will be phased out by federal regulations starting in January of 2025. The benefit of squeezing the project in before that deadline, according to Duran, is that they can do the work for a fraction of the cost. After the regulations kick in, Duran estimates that the project could cost two to four times as much as the current $1.2M budget.
Crozier explained that the main issue now is funding the controls, which are priced at $232,000. According to Crozier, they closed the gap on the main bid by transferring remaining/unused funds from their FY2024 budget into buildings and maintenance. That transfer was voted, and the FY24 budget was closed out, at the last meeting of the school committee. At the time, there was no discussion among the committee about the transfer being used to fund the HVAC project.
As for the control system, Crozier is trying to patch together additional funding sources. That reportedly includes a $100,000 request for American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money from the Select Board, utilizing the $80,000 that is dedicated to the schools in the Town Facilities Department budget for FY2025, and pulling the remainder from the Sudbury Public Schools Building Use Revolving Fund. The revolving fund captures revenue from building rentals and similar activities.
The approach puts the pressure squarely on the Select Board at their next meeting, but Duran informed the school committee that she will not be able to provide the energy use/performance data the Select Board previously requested in time for their next meeting.
The committee ultimately decided, at the suggestion of member Karyn Jones, to authorize Chair Nicole Burnard to send a letter to the Select Board voicing their support for the allocation of ARPA funds to this project.
Special Town Meeting?
Things got more complicated when the committee discussed the anticipated school roof replacement projects on the horizon. They’re pursuing Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) reimbursement for portions of two of those projects. The good news is that they are planning to host MSBA representatives for a site visit this week, indicating forward progress for the SPS applications.
If the MSBA opts to invite an SPS roof project into their accelerated repair program, the district would find out in late October according to Crozier. Crozier explained to the committee that participation in the MSBA’s accelerated repair program requires them to abide by a process and timeline set by the MSBA, with strict deadlines for funding the design and construction phases of the project. They discussed that the schools might need a special town meeting to get the funding required to proceed with the MSBA process.
During the capital projects discussion, committee member Mary Stephens voiced her dismay that the HVAC project funding issue was identified two months ago, but was only now coming up for discussion with the committee. She appeared to be alluding to the fact that the committee never discussed potential articles for a Fall Town Meeting. Stephens has previously voiced her frustration with that process to the Select Board.
There are still a lot of moving parts to track here and very few details are certain as of yet. During the meeting, Duran explained that the HVAC equipment is at the end of its useful life, though it is unlikely to fail in a catastrophic manner. “Death by a million cuts is what it’s going to be. It’s going to be like hospice.” It’s possible that the town could keep the existing equipment on “life support” for the duration of the school year, but that requires taking an unknown amount of risk of a possible school closure, or sending students and teachers into an uncomfortable environment for some amount of time.
That uncertainty, in combination with a complex funding scheme for the HVAC project, and the possibility of being invited to an MSBA program for a major roof project, it became very clear that there are no easy decisions ahead for Town officials.
As Duran has said in multiple meetings recently: “This is a tough one.”