PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY, VA – Millions of dollars in COVID-19 relief money are going to local schools.
Replacing heating, ventilation and air conditioning units takes a lot of work.
“It was time for this project to occur and it was on our radar for some time,” said Rockbridge County Schools Director of Operations Randy Walters.
At Central Elementary near Lexington, crews had to shut down a road and bring in construction equipment to replace seven massive rooftop units — the entire system.
“We were spending maintenance money keeping the units going, making sure the air quality was appropriate for schools,” said Walters, who added this project alone cost $1.4 million and could be paid for with federal money. “Without the CARES Act money, it would be up to the School Board and the Board of Supervisors to come up with funding for these projects.”
A U.S. Government Accountability Office report says about 41% of districts need to update or replace heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in at least half of their schools, representing about 36,000 schools across the country that need HVAC updates. Problems can lead to issues with indoor air quality problems, mold and in some cases, cause schools to temporarily adjust schedules.
In nearly all districts the office visited, security became a top priority. Some districts prioritized security updates over replacing building systems, such as HVAC systems.
But with COVID-19 relief money, schools can spend some of it on those upgrades. American Rescue Plan funds, as well as previous rounds of relief funding, can be used to take immediate action to improve indoor air quality, such as the inspection, testing, maintenance, repair, replacement, and upgrading of projects in school facilities. This can include system upgrades, filtering, purification and other air cleaning fans as well as window and door repair.
“I think these are the original windows when the school was built,” said Kentuck Elementary School Principal Christie Dawson, showing us the outside of the school. “The window units certainly help with the cooling, but the noise level when you’re inside of a classroom. Elementary kids are easily distractible and so that distractibility is there with the noise.”
The window units and windows will be replaced and the Ringgold school will have a new HVAC system and better ventilation.
“They deserve the cleanest building. They deserve the newest building, all of the bells and whistles. I just believe our kids deserve that,” said Dawson.
“You want air to turnover, it helps get rid of germs, get fresh air,” said Director of Maintenance and Facilities for Pittsylvania County Schools Mike Hutson, who’s helping spend the $12 million in federal money, about half of the $25 million that’s needed for these projects. “These older buildings have some ventilation but not as much outside air as you’d like to have in here, especially with COVID and everything going on. Even with just the common cold proper ventilation get that up to the standard where it should be.”
Pittsylvania County said its older elementary schools, including Kentuck, Stony Mill, Southside, Mt. Airy and Union Hall, have a central boiler/radiator system for heat and have had window-unit air conditioners added over the years. Chatham Elementary and Hurt have improved systems that were added 20 years ago. None of these schools have ventilation systems to match current standards and the old single-pane windows need to be replaced.
“To get the fresh air and get these buildings up to code I think the students will see a huge difference in their classroom. They’ll feel better in the classroom,” said Hutson.
Walters says they have through 2024 to use the money, so they’ll continue to see the benefit.
The Bedford County Capital Improvement Plan outlines several system replacements over the next 2-3 years. A smaller school may cost $600-700,000 to replace while larger schools may cost over $2,000,000. Overall, Bedford says they may spend over $10 million on HVAC-related projects in 11-12 schools over the next 3 years, using some ESSER2 funds.
In Roanoke, Fairview, Addison and Woodrow Wilson are getting HVAC replacement with $10.5 million ESSER2 money.