NEWS

Burlington seeks $19M to fix aging schools

Nicole Higgins DeSmet
Free Press Staff Writer

Burlington's aging schools are out of compliance with safety standards. The School Board and administration are asking voters to approve in March a $19-million bond over the next 10 years to pay for much-needed upgrades to the district's nine schools. Some have more needs than others.

Edmunds Elementary School and the adjoining middle school in downtown Burlington.

The costs for improvements are folded into the 2017-18 school budget. There is a $1-million deferred maintenance line item. Details are on the district's website. Voters will need to approve both the bond and the budget for the plans to move forward.

"It’s an informational challenge," Ward-6 School Board-member Stephanie Seguino said in January about getting both the bond and the budget approved Town Meeting Day. "That’s an important task, to justify that and also to make it clear that in many ways we are saving money by addressing these things now."

If the bond fails, the district warns that unplanned emergency repairs could not only impact learning, but also could result in budget deficits.

The School Board approved an $85.5-million budget in January. School advocates rallied behind the board's 5.25 percent school tax increase, saying the amount is conservative compared to the needs of the district.

Marty Spaulding, director of property services, bears the burden of getting the city's schools up to 21st-century building code.

School district Director of Property Services Marty Spaulding gives the Free Press a tour of Edmunds elementary and middle schools on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017. This massive air fan dates back to when the school was built in 1903.

Under Spaulding's guidance, Champlain Elementary, C.P. Smith Elementary , J.J. Flynn Elementary and the Sustainability Academy at Lawrence Barnes were recognized this week as "energy stars" by the Environmental Protection Agency. The rest of the district schools are lagging behind in efficiency, healthy ventilation and lighting quality.

Spaulding led a tour Tuesday afternoon of the issues at Edmunds Middle and Elementary schools. As Spaulding showed off the elementary school's single pane windows that need to be replaced, an mass of icicles and snow careened off the roof and crashed onto the parking lot.

Caution tape cordons off an area just outside a doorway -- the inside bears a warning sign as well -- where chunks of ice and snow fall off the roof at Edmunds middle and elementary schools. Officials say a lack of proper insulation in the attic of the building, which dates back to 1903, causing thawing that creates large icicles that hang off the building and eventually come crashing to the ground.

"Part of capital plan is to spray foam the entire attic," Spaulding said explaining one detail in the 10-year plan as he ducked under caution tape in the parking lot. "We have major heat loss from the lack of insulation in that particular area. That’s why the ice dams."

The behind-the-scenes problems included: lack of sprinkler system coverage for the schools, copper phone lines that no longer meet emergency services standards and portions of a ventilation system that date from 1903 when the school was built. Spaulding, familiar with the maze inside Edmunds, jogged up and down flights of stairs that prevent some students from attending school there.

"One of our goals in the facilities' plan is to accommodate the needs of all students and in particular students with special needs that we are currently sending out of District for services," Superintendent Yaw Obeng said in a January interview regarding the bond. "We need to be able to support these students here in our schools."

He cited the cost to the district to accommodate just one student with special needs last year was $70,000 in unplanned for expenses.

Obeng added that currently there is no state provision to provide capital renewal dollars for districts. This makes each district responsible for its own repairs and upgrades even as technology and teaching are undergoing major shifts.

"If the bond doesn't succeed, the deferred maintenance issues have the potential to balloon as a multitude of problems spiral out of control," Obeng said.

Burlington School Superintendent Yaw Obeng talks with the Free Press on Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2017.

Spaulding, who has been working as director for two years, said his biggest surprise on the job was the lack of renovations in the buildings.

"I didn’t realize we had buildings that were three stories that had no elevator or ADA accessibility," Spaulding said. He described the advocacy of Edmunds Principal, Shelley Mathias, who he said pushed for the installation of an elevator in the elementary school after a parent with impaired mobility was unable visit a child's classroom.

So far the district has managed its accessibility issues because students can go to another district school if their needs cannot be met at their neighborhood school.

School district Director of Property Services Marty Spaulding gives the Free Press a tour of Edmunds elementary and middle schools on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017. Some of the infrastructure in the school dates back more than a century, like this stairwell which cannot be made ADA compliant because of it's narrow width.

"You can only do that for so long, before you identify the need to make the buildings more accessible for everyone," Spaulding said as he explained that new construction triggers the need to bring a building up to code.

The 10-year plan will bring all the schools, except for Burlington High School up to code. The high school will likely have its own bond for upgrades.

Budget Bond 1 Page Summary

District Conclusion: "Delaying this Capital Reserve Bond request any longer to address these deferred maintenance needs
may result in unplanned emergency repairs which may impact student learning, occupant safety and costs that may
result in budget deficits."

Contact Nicole Higgins DeSmet, ndesmet@freepressmedia.com or 802-660-1845. Follow her on Twitter @NicoleHDeSmet.