Renovations may have to take a back seat to roof repairs in the Pleasant Valley School District.

The board met with Bill Gasper, the director of the buildings and grounds department, on Monday night to discuss his five-year plan of projects.

One project high up on the list is the replacement of the roof on the former Polk Elementary School.

The building was built in 1929 and has not been used as a school since 1995 when the new Pleasant Valley Elementary School opened on Polk Township Road in Kunkletown.

Half of the building has been used as a day care center for several years. The other half is the new location for the pupil services office. These educators work with children in need of special education, learning assistance, and those in gifted education.

Gasper told the board that he had the roof infrared tested for wet spots, and three spots were found.

“They had minor infiltration into the insulation,” he said, and that could become a larger problem if not fixed.

The test also helps them to know determine how much repair work needs to be done before roof can be coated.

Gasper said he began working in October on the specs for the roof restoration and it is ready for the board to review. If the board decides at its next meeting to pursue the coating project, then he will put together a contract to go out to bid.

“Is this something that absolutely has to be done this year,” asked Susan Kresge, a director on the school board.

Gasper said yes and said money is in the bond fund to cover the expense.

“I just wonder if there aren’t other projects that are more important,” she said.

Gasper said the only way he would wait on the project is if the board decided to cease using the building.

“There’s an area where we have ponding on the roof,” he said. “I can’t get it to drain without changing the insulation out. It’s actually cheaper to put a roof drain in.”

The work would be done in a three part application: primer, base coat with a membrane put into the base coat, and a final coat, he said. It’s similar to what they had put on at the high school and it has a 20-year warranty.

Also on the horizon is work that will need to be done on the roof at PVE. The warranty has expired, so a new coating will be needed. The board anticipates that project could cost more than $1 million due to the size of the roof.

“There’s some big numbers in here,” Kresge said about Gasper’s five-year plan of projects.

School board director Norm Burger said, “If you don’t repair your roof, you’re going to end up with a lot of other expenses. It will outweigh any possibilities of potential savings you might perceive, because leaking roofs cause a lot of damage.”

“There are cracks in the parapet wall,” Gasper said.

A visual inspection showed the cracks are 8 to 10 inches long. “That water is going somewhere up there,” Gasper said.

Kresge asked if a list could be prepared of the projects already given high priority for the bond fund. And Acting Superintendent Charlene Brennan said that could be done.

Gasper also said he would like to hire someone full-time to work half the time at the Polk Elementary and the other half in other areas of the district. Specifically, PVE could use more help since the Kindergarten has more classes, he said.

The board was receptive to the idea of hiring more help, and John Burrus, the director of human resources for the district, said he would prepare the paperwork for the next general board meeting.

Gasper would also like to hire six people to help with maintenance work for the summer. The jobs would pay minimum wage. He said he was mentioning it now, because he wants to advertise the positions before people find work elsewhere.