By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The Hays USD 489 school board approved a $6.01 million bid for the replacement of the Hays High School HVAC system at its meeting Monday night.
The low bidder was Glassman Corp. The project will replace the original HVAC system for Hays High, which was installed in 1979. It will include a majority of the building. Repairs to the school's gyms and wrestling room HVAC systems have already been completed.
The project will be completed in two phases over the summers of 2022 and 2023.
The project will be funded in part through $2.5 million in federal COVID relief funds.
The bid was well over the $4.5 million estimate for the project.
Dwayne Vaughn, engineer of Integrated Consulting Engineers of Wichita, said multiple factors went into the project not hitting its budget.
The estimate was taken from the Roosevelt Elementary School HVAC project that was let at the beginning of 2021.
Since that bid, equipment cost have increased 18 percent, piping increased 50 to 55 percent and sheet metal that will be used for the duct work increased by 55 to 62 percent.
The equipment supplier warned of another impending price increase as the first of the year, which would cost the district an additional $109,000. Vaughn urged the school board to approve the bid, so the order could be placed before the end of the year and thus avoid the price increase.
"I don't see this settling out for the next two years," Vaughn said. ... "I hate being the bearer of bad news. ... I don't think it's going to get any cheaper."
The life cycle of the new equipment is estimated to be 25 to 30 years.
The board also passed a resolution that would allow it to roll the remaining $3.5 million needed to fund the HVAC project into a future bond issue.
The board is considering several options for a bond, including those that would involve major renovations at the school.
If a bond does not pass, the district would likely pay for the remaining portion of the HVAC project through a lease agreement with capital outlay funds, Superintendent Ron Wilson said.
COVID relief funds
The district will receive $3.6 million in the third round of federal COVID relief funds. Wilson outlined for the board the other items on which it plans to spend the federal money.
These included
• An additional kindergarten teacher to help reduce class sizes
• Additional first-grade teachers aides
• High school credit-recover teacher
• Teachers for extended after school learning
• Summer school
• Funds for contact tracing and an additional school nurse
• Instructional coach
• District outreach coordinator
• LETRS literacy and writing training for teachers
Most of these items were supported in the second round of COVID funding and are being extended an additional year, Wilson said.
Board member Craig Pallister said he was pleased the district is using federal funds to address the students' learning loses during the pandemic.
"It's not just a one-year fix," he said. ... "We need to take advantage of funds to help kids learn when we have the opportunity."
Board member Lori Hertel added, "Not just part of the building, it’s building students."