By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The Hays school board approved two capital projects at its meeting Monday night.
The board approved a bid of $25,606 from Kansas Contract Design of Wichita for the replacement of the bleachers in gym B at Hays High School.
The board also approved a project to replace and move the gas line at Roosevelt Elementary School. This is part of a larger project to replace the HVAC system at the school.
Rusty Lindsay, buildings and grounds director, said the gas line project might not reach the $20,000 threshold for board approval, but he wanted the board's blessing to move forward with the project.
He said he was hoping to have the project finished before the start of school. Although the school likely will not need the gas for heating soon, the kitchen will need gas for cooking.
Capital projects in progress
Lindsay also gave updates on other capital projects.
The engineering work is moving forward with the HVAC replacement at Roosevelt.
Replacement of the roof and work on a wall at the bus barn is about 75 percent complete. Work to compete the conversion of a boiler room to a classroom at Hays Middle School is also about 75 percent complete.
Work on the secure entrance at Roosevelt is still in progress. Lindsay said the project was delayed because the contractor had a hard time getting all the needed materials because of the pandemic.
Work on a secure entrance at Lincoln Elementary School was set to start this week.
Work on a room in the O'Loughlin Elementary School library is 95 percent complete.
The district continues to convert its older lighting to more energy-efficient LED lighting.
Because students have been out of school buildings since March, the maintenance crews are ahead of schedule on their summer cleaning and painting, Lindsay said.
Key database
Lindsay presented a report to the board Monday on a new database the district has created to track keys and key cards.
Using the database, the district identified and deactivated 200 cards for staff who were no longer active in the district.
The district has been in the process of rekeying both its exterior and interior locks. The new keys are proprietary and can't be duplicated outside of the district.
Lindsay said the goal of the new system is to increase security.