The Unionville Chadds Ford School Board directors voted Monday night to spend more than $2 million on various facility projects. Roofing projects for two schools were the largest expenses.
Directors approved a bid of $1.6 million for a roof replacement at Unionville High School and a partial roof replacement at Patton Middle School for a cost of $602,222.
School board director Rashi Akki, who chairs the Facilities Committee, said of the Patton roofing project, “This is the most complicated portion of the roof system and it’s leaking. Originally, we were going to replace it but right now we’re just restoring it. This is in lieu of the fact that we’re having conversations about potentially a new middle school, and this allows us the opportunity to replace the roof and get a 10-year warranty and give us the timeframe for those discussions.”
She added that the original replacement cost was $1.3 million.
She also said the $1.6 million for the roof at the high school was already an item already budgeted in the Long Range Facility Plan. The portion of the roof was repaired 14 years ago but. “We’re seeing failures in it.”
Other projects approved include almost $54,000 to install interior partition walls at UHS, almost $51,000 to replace a fire alarm system component at Patton, and $11,472 to replace walk-in cooler refrigeration at Unionville Elementary School.
Discussion on the electric school bus program continued with Director of Facilities James Whitesel updating the board.
As for the program’s background, he said talks about the electric bus program have been ongoing since October of 2022, and the installation of the charging stations was completed in August of last year. Since then, two buses have already been delivered, but one had to be returned.
Whitesel said the first bus went into service in October and has since made 358 trips, totaling 4,166 miles with almost 15,000 pounds of carbon dioxide saved in 64 driving days. That, he said, averages 1.9 kilowatt hours per mile.
Yet, he acknowledged that “there have been some hiccups” with the program, much of that concerned the vehicle’s charge. There is a low voltage drain, meaning some charge is lost even when not in use.
“After the bus sits for the weekend, we come in on a Monday and it needs to be jumped,” he said. Whitesell added that sometimes there’s a “Handshake” issue when the charger is connected to the bus’s charging port.
The bus that had to be returned, he added, wouldn’t charge. Whitesel added that the vendor and manufacturer are working to resolve the charging issues.
He said costs for the electricity will be higher in the colder months than in the warmer months, but that those electricity costs are covered by the contract with the bus vendor.
Whitesel’s presentation points and figures can be found here.
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