By Linda Conner Lambeck

WESTPORT — The school district’s five-year capital forecast may have to be adjusted upward based on a study presented to the Board of Education last week.

A building envelope study conducted last summer and into the fall by Silver Petrucelli & Associates of Hamden, has found the five schools studied, though generally in good condition, need nearly $12 million in work over the next five years.

“Does it change our numbers a lot?” board Chair Lee Goldstein asked.

“It may,” nodded Elio Longo, the district’s chief financial officer, or “the timing of them.”

The district’s five-year capital improvement plan, generally a flexible target, is fine-tuned annually. 

Since last year, it has been presented to town officials in October, ahead of the annual budget season, so that projects can be put out to bid and started during the summer when classes are not in session.

The Petrucelli study of building exteriors and mechanical systems did not include Coleytown Middle School, which was recently renovated, or Coleytown Elementary, which is being evaluated for possible renovation or replacement.

Also not included was Long Lots Elementary, the subject of evolving plans to be replaced with a price tag estimated to be as high as $100 million.

Using building walk-throughs, thermal imaging, staff interviews and drone and infrared cameras, the assessments looked at five other schools’ roofs, windows, facades and sealants.

Identified repair and replacement needs were ranked to help school and town officials prioritize future budgets.

Read the complete “Building Envelope Studies” by clicking here.

None of the issues, board member Kevin Christie pointed out, are serious safety or health concerns.

Priority No. 1 items should be addressed next year, according to Longo. Priority No. 2 projects would be scheduled within one to three years, Priority No. 3 within five years and Priority No. 4 within 10 years.

Of the $12 million total price tag, about $210,000 in projects were deemed top priorities.

It was also noted that although Staples and Saugatuck had major roof work done in the past year, sections of the roofs were not addressed because each had areas of functional use. As such, work on those unaddressed areas is on the list, Longo said.

School-by-school punch list

Bedford Middle: The study found that although Bedford is well maintained and in good condition, the 23-year-old structure is in need of some improvements and upgrades, totaling $4.8 million.

Topping the list are roof improvements, and a rain screen in the central courtyard.

The brick work and windows also need removal of moss and lichen in several areas.

Greens Farms: Also in good condition, the school was built in 1925 with two later additions. It needs $218,900 in work, according to the study. 

Repairs are needed to the older section of the school, including repointing brick in several areas, repair or replace rusted and delaminated windows and door lintels, overgrowing ivy and roof maintenance.

Kings Highway: Built in 1926 with two subsequent additions, the school needs $1,069,500 in work. 

That includes some repointed brick and masonry, repair or replacement of rusted and delaminated window and door lintels, and roof maintenance.

Saugatuck Elementary, built in 1936 with two subsequent additions, needs $662,975 in work to repair spalling brick and repointing, removal of overgrown ivy from the exterior brick and roof repair.

Staples High, deemed in very good condition in the report, was last renovated in 2006. Its repairs price tag amounts to more than $5 million, including $3.8 million to eventually replace the part of the roof not replaced last summer.

The school also needs selective brick repointing and window replacement in older parts of the building, window and door lintel maintenance and corrective measures for water infiltration at windows.

Next steps

Longo said some of the problems identified by the study, such as recaulking, can be addressed immediately by district maintenance staff.

He called the report a second opinion to one done several years ago by Antinozzi Associates of Bridgeport.

Goldstein said she tried to compare the two reports, but gave up.

In general, Longo said cost estimates are now about 30 percent higher than they were when the initial study was done. In both cases, the big-ticket items are the roofing work.

The plan is to integrate the latest list of projects into the school district’s existing capital improvement plan.

Kings Highway PTA donation boosts outdoor learning

In a separate action, the school board voted 6-0 to accept a $7,293.91 gift from the Kings Highway PTA to buy furniture for the outdoor learning space installed last year using American Rescue Plan Act funds.

All of the town’s schools have used ARPA funds to create outdoor experiences.

“This one is turning out to be a great success,” said Assistant Supt. John Bayers.

Kings Highway PTA Co-presidents Denise Acampora and Arielle Leighton told the board they hope to have the furniture installed during the April break so that parents who donated to the project can see it completed.

Freelance writer Linda Conner Lambeck, a reporter for more than four decades at the Connecticut Post and other Hearst publications, is a member of the Education Writers Association.