Facility Focus
Vol. 1, Issue 1 (January, 2024)
Your connection to facilities news and updates in the Avon Lake City Schools
Approximately 750,000 square feet of academic facilities. 200 acres of land. One goal: Support an "ALite" education for each student in the Avon Lake City School District.
What's going on in our schools from a facilities standpoint? What projects are we working on? What challenges do we face? What opportunities exist? Find it all here in our brand new quarterly newsletter.
New Year, New Faces in Key Positions!
Jennifer Jannuzzi - Secretary
Please welcome Mrs. Jennifer Jannuzzi, whom we shamelessly stole from the high school, as the new secretary to the Director of Operations. In her role as secretary to Principal Mike May, Mrs. Jannuzzi was instrumental in the operations of the high school office and helped the high school transition to an increased use of the Google suite of software products over the last several years.
Mrs. Jannuzzi succeeds Mrs. Tina Oster in the department, who will be retiring from a position she has held for over 25 years.
Kevin Miller - Maintenance/Custodial Supervisor
The Maintenance and Custodial Supervisor of the district supervises maintenance staff members, head custodians, night custodians and custodial aides, and has innumerable responsibilities in the district - everything from helping to coordinate large construction projects to ordering hand soap.
Mr. Miller succeeds Mr. Bruce Kauffman, who retired as of January 1st with over 30 years of service to the district.
The Need Remains...
Roofing, HVAC, Electrical, Plumbing, Other Infrastructure Requires Attention
Roofing: A recently completed roof assessment indicated the need to repair or replace the majority of roof sections in the district. Within the next year, major roof sections will likely need to be replaced at the High School and at Learwood.
- What are we already doing about this? We conduct monthly inspections, cleaning (leaves and other debris), and maintenance service on our roofs. This fall, all buildings received significant patch work. In the summer/fall of 2021, we also replaced roof sections at Troy and Eastview that were experiencing leaks that we were no longer able to patch and fix.
HVAC: Controls systems in the buildings continue to age - several are at end-of-life. Parts, such as older-style actuators, are not only more expensive but are also becoming increasingly hard to find. Eventually we will be forced to start replacing individual units at a significant cost with no improvement to the rest of the system or the building.
- What are we already doing about this? We perform regular preventative maintenance on all of our HVAC systems - filter changes, unit cleaning, boiler and chiller inspections and repairs, etc.
Electrical: Due to limited funds and uncertainty regarding the future of the buildings, the conversion to LED technology (and the cost savings that comes with that) has been slower than we would like. The elementary schools are not equipped with emergency generators. Renovations to panels, dimmers, and breaker systems have been recommended.
- What are we already doing about this? Converted exterior lighting and several large spaces to LEDs, semi-annual preventative maintenance on the emergency generators we do have, walkthrough inspections and repairs of all electrical systems.
Plumbing: The picture you see is from a pinhole leak that developed in a water supply line in the boiler room at Learwood. In many of our buildings, the plumbing is the original, and it is simply breaking down (especially the sanitary waste piping under our oldest facilities). Updated toilets, sinks, and drinking fountains are recommended in all buildings.
- What are we already doing about this? Routine inspections and repairs to all of our plumbing systems and fixtures, snaking and jetting lines as needed.
Life Safety: We are now being told by our vendors that critical items, such as our fire panels, are at or approaching end of life. We recently had to replace a part on one of our fire panels and the vendor had to locate the part on eBay because the parts are difficult to find. These systems will eventually have to be replaced.
- What are we already doing about this? Regular inspections of emergency systems (quarterly sprinkler and other fire suppression testing, regular inspection of panels, alarms, emergency exit signs, etc.)
We look forward to the continuing community conversation about our facilities.
The need remains.
Grant Updates and Highlights
High School and Learwood Implement BWC Safety Intervention Grant
The Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation (BWC) Safety Intervention Grant (SIG) is a 3:1 grant (state awards 75%, district responsible for 25%) for approved equipment and other items that contribute to a safer work environment.
In July, the district was awarded $28,312.50 (75% of the total) toward the purchase of two new riding floor scrubbers - one at Avon Lake High School and one at Learwood Middle School. Those scrubbers arrived in October and the safety intervention has been implemented.
District Encumbers All Monies for OFCC K-12 Safety and Security Grant
The Avon Lake City Schools were awarded a total of $262,689.45 (different amounts at each of the district's seven buildings) through the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission (OFCC) School Safety Grant for use on various projects. Funds were required to be encumbered by the end of 2023, and we are pleased to report that all monies have now been earmarked for safety and security projects/equipment district-wide.
Without going into too many details (for security reasons, school safety plans are not public record under the Ohio Revised Code), we wanted to provide a brief overview of some ways this grant money was spent:
- Access control systems (badge readers)
- Security camera upgrades
- Exterior door replacement and panic bar upgrades
- Portable radio replacement
- Site access control barricades, gates, and signage
What's Next?
Schools Look to Partner with City, Community on Tennis Court Project
Located between the Maintenance building and the Avon Lake Public Library, the tennis courts at Avon Lake High School serve high school students and student-athletes, elementary school P.E. classes, and the public.
The courts are now over 20 years old and have been previously repaired. Over the past two decades, soil and water challenges are now cracking the surface asphalt, are heaving the footers for the facility's fence, and make short-term repairs an unattractive option. If left unaddressed, the courts may pose a safety concern and eventually be deemed unusable.
The schools have engaged with Behnke Landscape Architecture to provide design and related construction administration services for a tennis court renovation project. The desire is to create a project that will serve (pun not intended) both the schools and the community, as Tennis enjoys a resurgence of popularity and Pickleball has burst on the scene and become America's fastest growing sport.
We are excited by the preliminary discussions we have had with folks from the city and the community regarding potential grants and other fundraising efforts to help offset the cost of the project. We look forward to the work ahead!