SCES Getting Needed Repairs

By Dylan Marsh
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
SUNAPEE- The Sunapee School District has approved funding for upgrades to the Sunapee Central Elementary School.

The elementary school, which began construction in 1927 and was dedicated in 1929, was in need of health and safety equipment upgrades. Included in those upgrades will be a new heating system, a biomass plant, which will run off of wood chips rather than the current model which uses oil. The system will also feature a propane heating system. Should supply issues arise for the biomass plant, the propane system will act as a backup. The heating system will be placed between the elementary school and the Shelburne Gym and act as a heating source for both buildings.

Another major improvement coming to the elementary school will be an updated HVAC system, which will provide fresh air to the nearly 100-year-old building. Currently, the elementary school has no air exchange system, short of opening the windows, according to Facilities Director Mathew Bouranis.

While conversations regarding the HVAC upgrades have been ongoing for a number of years, the airborne nature of the coronavirus disease reinvigorated staff to focus on updating the system. With the updated HVAC system, a new fire alarm system will also be added to the building in order to meet requirements. The fire system, which was deemed allowable in the scope of health and safety upgrades, was able to be included in the funding.

“COVID really honed things down to the bare necessities at the school. It might not look very pretty right now but it’s important that we get fresh air into the building. We are solving the direst problems in terms of the buildings and health and safety of the kids,” said Bouranis.

Aside from the introduction of the new biomass plant, the only other aesthetic change will be in regard to the portable classrooms on-site at the elementary school. A large part of the project will be replacing the current portable classrooms and the site that they sit on. There is currently a Redi-Rock retaining wall in place and a new slab being built on site for the new detached building to sit upon. A portion of the cost of construction will come from ESSER, or Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, which are funds allocated from the American Rescue Plan Act to help aid school systems that were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Due to construction, the school was closed to anyone not working on the project on June 17,2022 and is not scheduled to be reopened until September 7th. As a result, the date of September 7th has been announced as the new start date for all Sunapee Central Elementary School students.

Next year, SCES students will attend five fewer days, which will still exceed the minimum of 994 hours required by the New Hampshire Department of Education. According to Bouranis, construction is going as scheduled, and there is a potential for custodial staff to arrive at the school earlier than planned to prepare for the coming school year.