Politics & Government

D122 Candidates Answer: How Can You Prioritize Facility Upgrades?

The third in a series of issue-based questions for District 122 candidates.

Every day this week, Patch will give you the District 122 Board of Education candidates' answers to a different question that deals with the financial and educational issues facing the school district.

We'll compile all the responses here, ordered in the way names will be on the ballot, and you can also get more election information on the . Today's question is:

Facility maintenance/upgrade funding appears to be an issue moving forward. How do you think the district should prioritize these projects?

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The district needs to prioritize the facility maintenance projects in such a way as to make sure the projects involving the safety of the children, and anything that directly supports the classroom education of the children receives highest priority. The remaining projects need to be prioritized just like we do at home when dollars are tight. We prioritize and make a distinction between needs and wants. We prepare a list of “must haves,” “need but can wait a little while” and “nice to have long term or when things get better.”

A cost/benefit analysis should be done on the high priority items to establish the timing of the project and which options should be implemented first. All of the districts assets need to be carefully evaluated to determine if they are underutilized or excessively expensive to operate. If underutilized, determine if they can be mothballed, converted to income producing or sold. If excessively costly to operate, find cheaper and better alternatives.

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Two years ago, we had a full and complete study done identifying all of
the areas of maintenance and equipment and facility upgrades that needed to
be done. The price tag for all was identified and with the level of importance
place on all items. My position on these matters is the greater risk of concern
and safety at all times.

I would keep a priority on items related to mechanical systems (heating and electrical) so that the buildings can be safe for our children and then any maintenance item that would put our children or public at risk. Cosmetic repairs are low priority. With the age of some of our buildings, we need to assess the age and the possibility of damage or breakdowns to fairly assess which item receives top priority. We need to keep the schools safe at all times for our children. They spend two-thirds of their days in our schools and safety to them is my priority.

The first priority will be what would be classed as "life-saving." These definitely get the priority. After that everything needs to be analyzed very carefully.

This is a question that could only be answered by someone on the board that has a good knowledge of the buildings our district owns. I can assure you that maintaining the facilities is very important as we don’t need any large expenses from neglect or deferred maintenance.

The priority should be given to those issues that are considered life/safety concerns. Preventative maintenance should always be considered to help reduce long-term repairs.

The School Board gave Bob Nelson, the director of facilities, direction at the last board meeting held on March 16, to bring a top 10 priority list back to the board by the next meeting. At that time, the board will discuss and prioritize the list. This list should be in an order with safety being considered first and dollar amounts next.   


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