District seeks design approval to tackle prioritized $6.7M of facility repairs; Shrewsbury Elementary top priority for 2027

Facilities staff and external consultants told the board they have identified more than $22 million in deferred maintenance district‑wide and recommended starting design work immediately for the district’s highest‑risk items so the district can pursue work during summer 2027. The recommended near‑term scope focuses on critical HVAC replacements, electrical distribution updates (including switchgear and generator evaluation) and life‑safety systems (fire alarm/paging). The administration presented a package of prioritized work with an initial design‑phase estimate of roughly $6.72 million for the highest‑priority items and asked the board to authorize design activity in June to meet lead‑time constraints.

Consultants emphasized the cost of deferral: a project deferred typically increases in estimated cost over time and raises the risk of an unexpected failure that could cause room or building closures. They recommended designing a staged plan—start with Shrewsbury Elementary systems that show end‑of‑life failure rates and follow with Southern Middle and other items in subsequent years—rather than ad‑hoc emergency procurement.

Facilities director and consultants outlined how a failure would be managed in the short term (for example, renting temporary generators if an existing unit fails), the expected lead time to procure major mechanical equipment and the estimated costs for finishes tied to system replacements. The board asked administration to return in June with a formal authorization request to begin design and with refined estimates.

Next steps: administration to bring a formal design authorization request and refined cost estimates to the June meeting; if approved, the district would proceed with engineering and bid packages targeting summer 2027 work.