Pleasant Valley School District held a tour of the high school Monday night to show residents why repairs are needed.

The district is looking at more than $80 million in renovations and improvements to the high school alone.

D’Huy Engineering Inc. in Bethlehem was hired by the school district to evaluate the areas in the school buildings that need fixed and renovated, as well as any suggested improvements that could be made to the buildings. At the school district’s planning meeting on April 11, the engineering firm said the high school has $38.5 million in improvements in the main part, plus $24.8 million in the wings built in 1995 to 2004, and $17 million in the JC Mills wing.

The high school would be first, but then work would need to be done on the districts other buildings. This includes:

• $6.9 million at Chestnuthill Elementary School

• $25 million at PVES

• $6.5 million at Polk Elementary School

• $32.6 million at PVIS

• $23.9 million at PVMS

• $2.5 million on the athletic fields

• $1.5 million district wide.

The grand total is more than $179 million.

High school

The high school is made up of three sections, each built at different times. The main building was under construction from 1959 to 1984. Then came the JC Mills wing in 1974, followed by the core space additions such as the new auditorium and gymnasium between 1995 and 2004. This led to heating, cooling and electrical systems in various areas and working separately from each other.

The tour started in front of the new auditorium and headed to the right toward the JC Mills wing. It was led by William Gasper, the director of Operations, Co-Principal Jonathan Ayre and Co-Principal Brian Boylan.

The JC Mills area contains one of the locations of the boiler, electric and chiller units. The heating, ventilation and air conditioning system is at the top of the list of things that need fixed.

Many classrooms do not have air conditioning. This sets up a humidity problem in the school. Gasper said classrooms facing out with windows don’t have air conditioning, while classrooms on the inside without windows do. What ends up happening in the hallway between them is almost like rain when the cold air from one side meets the hot air from the other.

Out of date equipment

He also pointed out in one of the electrical rooms that the switches are out of date and it’s getting hard to find replacement parts. Similarly, he is having trouble getting parts for other machinery and devices throughout the school.

“Unit ventilators, it’s very hard to get parts for them,” Gasper said. “We’re at the point now where we’re actually getting parts on eBay. We can’t get them anywhere else.”

Gasper also directed the group’s attention to the height of the railing on the stairs.

“I want you to take a good look at this stairwell here. This is what they call code compliant stairwell,” Gasper said.

The blue metal railing in the code complaint stairwell meets today’s standards, because the hand rails are extended and the height is above the waistline. The stairwells with the wooden railings do not meet the new standards, because the height of the railing is below the waistline at the hip level.

“People could actually fall over the side if they get pushed,” Gasper said about the older railings.

Other areas pointed out were lockers that are too narrow to fit in a coat or book bag, and in need of repair.

“Notice, some of them are pretty dinged up,” Boylan said.

Equipment needed

Many other issues were pointed out during the tour, such as science classrooms that are not laid out properly and missing equipment needed for lab work and a weight room that is a distance from the locker rooms resulting in wasted instruction time, Boylan said.

“In the weight room, we actually have our special education department chair. Her office is in the weight room at the moment right now,” Boylan said.

The hourlong tour took a group of about 30 people throughout the entire school. Problems included a musty old auditorium to an old gymnasium that still smelled of the years of sports that took place in there.

Other problems included chalk boards with a white plastic film attached to create a fake white board, cracked tiles, rusted doorways, classroom doors that don’t lock from the inside, multiple desk heights and styles in the same classroom, a cafeteria that is too small with atrium windows that are consistently fogged, and a disjointed maze like layout where academic subjects are not grouped together but scattered throughout the three sections.

If the school district approves proceeding with the design phase in June, then D’Huy Engineering will begin putting together a design team to plan out the changes. If a plan is passed by the school board by September 2024, then the school district would begin seeking bids for a contractor in October or November of 2024. Construction would take place between January 2025 and July 2027.