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They are finally making some progress. That was the one phrase used by Andy Dobson, facilities manager for the 麻豆传媒AV East Cornerstone Public School Division, when he addressed their board of trustees on Feb. 25.听
Dobson was asked to present some facts and a progress report to the trustees following the opening of a renovated and expanded Weyburn Comprehensive School that will cater to students from Grades 7 to 12 once it starts with a new calendar and mandate in September.听
The $60 million project took two years of planning and underwent five years of construction, the trustees noted, and with more than 20 鈥渃hange orders鈥� that involved blueprint shifting over the years, they said they were pleased to report that the public school portion of the two-pronged rebuild is pretty well completed with the exception of some landscaping and parking lot detailing that will happen this spring, said Dobson.听
As for the rest of the school system, the manager said caretakers in the schools are handling minor repairs themselves and there is a new system for deploying service technicians to tend to the larger issues.听
鈥淭he tech will go to a school and spend three or four days there, tending to all the problems, instead of running around to three or four schools in one day. It cuts down travel time and makes the service more efficient,鈥� said Dobson.听
Playground equipment that doesn鈥檛 meet new safety standards is being replaced on a scheduled basis as schools fundraise and prepare to re-equip the school yards.听
There is also some equipment that will be moved around to other schools with consolidations, he suggested.听
The school division is still trying to employ a journeyperson plumber, and some full-time caretaker positions are being filled with more current maintenance people reaching retirement.听
Dobson said sewer and water services have become an issue in a few schools in the recent past, which wasn鈥檛 expected, and the Weyburn transportation shop requires some serious updates, as do a few teacherages. He noted that there are still a few of those housing units being used by educators in the smaller centres.听
Cost escalations will be a major item in the future, Dobson said, especially when it comes to roof repairs and heating and ventilation systems.听
Computerized blueprints for all of the division鈥檚 38 school facilities are now accessible on the administration鈥檚 network.听
Later on, Dobson and Lynn Little, the division鈥檚 director of education, noted that the demolition of听 Weyburn Junior High School, which has been decommissioned, and the building of a new elementary school to replace the soon-to-be obsolete Haig and Queen Elizabeth Schools in Weyburn will take priority in the building and renovation plans with the Carlyle School replacement to come right after.听
Dobson said a caretaking clinic had been held within the division and $11,000 in repairs to the Lyndale School roof had been completed.听
鈥淥verall, we see requests for repairs to heating systems declining and we鈥檙e making some progress on the ongoing roof repairs. These two have been the most requested items of concern over the past five years,鈥� Dobson said.听
Power consumption throughout the division amounted to $1.56 million last year with energy consumption coming in at around $645,000, he reported. With gas markets being low now and with some new energy saving guarantees from a supplier, he said some reductions might be anticipated, and the time was probably ripe to sign a three-year contract for energy supply. 鈥淲e鈥檙e always looking for efficiencies,鈥� he said, and to that end, several exterior lights in and around schools are being replaced with LED lighting as the older, less energy efficient systems wear out and are scheduled for replacements.听
