WEYBURN – Work crews were kept busy over the summer doing maintenance and repairs to the schools in the Holy Family Roman Catholic Separate School Division to get them ready for the new school year, trustees heard at their board meeting on Wednesday evening.
Mike Kaip, director of facilities and maintenance, gave a breakdown of the projects he had listed for each school, and what they were able to complete over the summer.
A common thread for each of the list of projects were items that had to be put off until later, usually for next summer.
Some projects were awaiting shipment of supplies due to supply chain issues, and some were delayed because the contractors needed were not available.
At St. Michael School, they removed dead trees on the east side of the playground, and repaired flooring.
Kaip noted the school’s caretaker refinished all of the oak wood trim throughout the school. The window in the door for the principal’s office is on order, and painting will be done as needed.
At St. Olivier in Radville, the unused shower stalls are to be converted to storage areas, but Kaip had trouble lining up a contractor to do this work. Light bulbs were replaced, a backstop screen on the playground was repaired and the phone and intercom system throughout the school was replaced.
Duct work was done at the two schools in Estevan, Sacred Heart and St. Mary, and the other schools will have it done in turn, said Kaip, noting they engaged a highly-professional company to do the duct cleaning.
Some schools had never had duct cleaning done, or hadn’t been done in quite some time.
“One of the best things you can do with the HVAC system is to bring in fresh air,” said superintendent Chad Fingler. “We’ll finish up this year in the other schools.”
Education director Gwen Keith agreed, pointing out that COVID isn’t done, and having clean ventilation is a key part of prevention.
Asked if the cost of supplies was an issue, Kaip noted that landscaping costs in particular was “through the roof”, and a big struggle with projects is sourcing the supplies needed.
He noted that boot racks ordered for Sacred Heart in July have still not arrived, but will be installed as soon as they come in.
Landscaping was done at both Estevan schools, along with adding pea gravel to the play structure area at St. Mary School, and moving the fence in the kindergarten area out to the sidewalk. A flagpole is on order, with no date of when they might get a new one in.
The staff room renovation is about 90 per cent completed at Sacred Heart, with staff lockers to still come in, new bike racks replaced the old ones, and the basketball court was expanded by 20 feet and resurfaced.
