By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The Hays USD 489 school board learned many of the challenges of maintaining an almost 100-year-old school Monday.
The school board met at Lincoln Elementary School and toured the school. The school was built in 1926 with an addition built in 1955.
Rusty Lindsay, director of buildings and grounds, said the building's brick and mortar is strong, but the building's infrastructure is failing.
Plumbing, electrical, heating and AC, and windows are all in need of replacement, he said.
The last USD 489 bond issue, which failed, called for closing Lincoln and constructing a new elementary school. Lindsay said unfortunately fixing all of the infrastructure problems with the almost century-old school would cost more than building a new school.
Principal Kerri Lacy showed the board members damage from where water blows in widows on the west side of the building.
Following a major storm the night before the first day of school this fall, the school had several inches of water outside of its art and music room and the adjacent classroom.
The school also has multiple places in the school where the roof is leaking.
The school has ceiling AC units that are controlled by remote controls. The remotes are so old, they can't be replaced.
The boiler gets the heaters in the classrooms so hot, teachers have to be careful not to set anything on them because they have been known to melt things.
Sewer issues in the school's basement cafeteria means there is a permanent odor in that area. There is no elevator in the building, so a child who is on crutches can't eat with his or her class. Meals are served to the child upstairs and other children are asked to join the child for lunch and recess.
Students who are on crutches who are on the second floor also can't go to computer classes or visit the library because those two rooms are on the the first floor. The school keeps a wheelchair at the bottom of the stairs so a child with mobility issues could quickly be wheeled out of the building in case of an emergency.
The stairs are also an issue for deliveries. The school receives its hot food for lunch from Hays High School daily.
Lacy said she was also concerned about the use of cafeteria as the school's storm shelter. The school has no place to put the lunch tables, so they have to be folded and pushed up against the wall. She is concerned those tables could become projectiles.
The school has a painful lack of storage. Closets are being used for offices. The counselor's office is adjacent to the gym and was once a ball closet.
The school is required to a have a private space for lactating mothers. This also was once a closet.
Lincoln has 216 students — two sections of each grade.
The Hays school district had failed bond attempts in 2016 and 2017. The school board discussed reconfiguring the elementary schools in a third attempt for a bond, but a plan was never finalized.
Four new board members took seats on the board as of Monday night — Allen Park, Lori Hertel, Craig Pallister and Tammy Wellbrock.