Every year, as soon as summer vacation starts, our maintenance, custodial, secretarial and food service teams begin a rush against the clock to complete all essential facilities projects before students return in September. This year, the team really outdid themselves. Big shout-out to our Maintenance & Operations Director Kyle Reams, who can stretch a dollar for miles and miles.
Kelseyville High School
At Kelseyville High School, we installed a new heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC) system for the main administration building and replaced old Zinsco electrical panels. Back in the late 1960s and early ‘70s, Zinsco promised to revolutionize the industry with better breakers. Kelseyville Unified (and many, many others) installed Zinsco hardware, only to discover that it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. The company went under and we’ve been struggling to get replacement parts ever since. Now we have modern electrical panels that use standardized equipment–they’re more reliable and less expensive to service.
We also put new TPO roofs on the administration building, gym, and locker rooms. TPO is a popular single-ply roofing membrane for new low-slope roofing applications. This will mean the end of wintertime leaks when it rains.
Behind the high school, we created an access route that allows the maintenance team to reach propane tanks, mechanical equipment, and HVAC units year round. And if the need arises, emergency vehicles can also get back there. Before this upgrade, the road was inaccessible in winter.
Finally, we upgraded the condenser systems for the walk-in freezer and commercial refrigerator. Now, they are more energy efficient and far less likely to break down, saving the district money and creating a much happier kitchen staff.
High School Stadium
The stadium project has been a long time coming, and it’s finally in motion. We began the demolition of the old bleachers, bathrooms, and storage in July. Now, we’re installing all the underground infrastructure required to support, supply or run our new facility. We’re adding a storm drain system to control erosion and running conduits for the electricity, data, fire alarm, water, sewer, and storm drain tie-ins.
We're putting in a new entryway with a combination ticket booth and ADA-compliant snack bar with ADA-compliant walkways and crosswalks. We’re adding six bathrooms and a new grandstand bleacher system, too, with a large announcer’s booth and multiple rooms for game announcements, coaching during games, and rooftop deck for spotting for games, filming, and more. And those who have sought parking in the past will be happy to know we are adding more parking behind the district office! This is a huge project that will take the bulk of the year, so our home games will mostly be played in Lakeport. In June, we plan to hold middle school promotion and high school graduation ceremonies in our new stadium.
Mountain Vista Middle School
In order to complete the large projects at other KVUSD schools, we hosted most summer activities at MVMS, so the campus was only available for renovations for about three weeks. In that time, we replaced old, broken concrete sidewalks with safe ones in front of the school and gym. We also fixed the damage from an oak tree that fell on the library.
Kelseyville Elementary School
At KES, we reroofed the three main buildings with TPO, stripping them down to studs so we could install new insulation, venting, scuppers, drains, overflows, and roofing–the whole bit. We were also able to replace all the HVAC systems on those buildings with a wifi-controllable building management system we can monitor districtwide.
But we didn’t stop there. KES had those same frustrating Zinsco electrical panels, so we replaced them and were able to better balance the electrical load. When KES was built in the 1970s, no one could have predicted how much electricity schools would need in the 2020s. Through electrical balancing upgrades, everything runs more efficiently which is good for kids and their education–always our guiding star.
Riviera Elementary School
Built 30 years ago, the Riv, as we call Riviera Elementary School, is our most modern school. However, 30 years is a long time and many things have begun to wear out. We gutted every student restroom and installed new everything to create clean, functional restrooms. We also replaced the roofs on every single portable classroom with TPO to stop leaks.
In classrooms, we replaced ceiling TBAR panels and were able to have a contractor paint 90% of building interiors. Fresh paint not only looks great, it protects the material it covers.
Because the Riv hadn’t been substantially upgraded since 1995, we were required to install a new state-of-the-art fire system that now gives verbal commands rather than just a screeching bell. We also put in new heat and smoke detectors to keep kids and staff safer.
On school grounds, we replaced a lot of gravel with concrete, making it easier to get around everywhere from the student drop-off area and marquee all the way to the F and G buildings along the edge of the playground. It’s way better.
We also installed two shade structures at the new drop-off area where parents have more room to safely deliver their kids to school. (This has drastically sped up morning drop off.) Additionally, we installed more separation fencing between the parking lot and playground.
At the backside of the gym, we replaced a 40’ x 20’ roll door that Kyle called “a hot mess that was never installed right.” We removed it, repaired some dry rot, and put in a double door for easy access.
Finally, we replaced 90% of all drinking fountains, going from porcelain single-height fountains to stainless steel, ADA-compliant, double-height fountains. We were able to replace and rebuild quite a few leaky hydrants and spigots and repair the dry rot created by the leaks.
So much more to go
If you can believe it, this summary only hits the high points. I left out so many additional projects, and even with all this, we’ve barely scratched the surface. This was us sticking our finger in the dam to hold back a flood of problems. We probably have another $500,000 worth of concrete flatwork that needs to be replaced right now, and plenty of leaky roofs left to repair.
Many interior surfaces haven’t been changed since our schools were built. Imagine living in a house built in 1970 that had never been upgraded. Even if you took care of it, it wouldn’t serve you as well today as it would have served the original owners. Needs change over time. At the very least, you’d probably need more electrical outlets.
Schools are the same. Not only do we need to upgrade many of our schools, we are simply out of space. Our student enrollment continues to grow, but our schools are already at capacity. This is why we put Measure R on the ballot, a general obligation bond to fund essential repairs and renovations and build more classroom space. The State gives schools money to build structures but not to maintain them. That money must come from local public bond funds. If you’d like to learn more, visit kvusd.org/bond-measures/measure-r. We are calling Measure R our “Renovation Bond.”
Funny story
A couple of weeks ago, Kyle got a complaint about a burning smell and a lot of heat in one of our school libraries. He high-tailed it to the school, only to find out that the librarian wasn’t accustomed to the new HVAC system working so quickly and heating up the space so well. The smell was just a little dust on the new system that hadn’t burned off yet. We are lucky to have such a talented and committed maintenance team.