‘Long-term Solution … Nonnegotiable,’ Says Ault
Ongoing heating problems at Parry McCluer Middle School have intensified the need for a long-term facilities solution, Superintendent Heather Ault told the Buena Vista School Board during its regular meeting Wednesday, Dec. 10.
Ault said the building has faced mounting issues since turning the heat on earlier this winter, with aging steam pipes and boiler systems continuing to fail.
“We have had a lot of challenges at the middle school since we turned the heat on,” Ault said. “The pipes that run the steam heat through the school are very old, and they are not doing well.”
Ault said staff discovered two new problems that day, including a fresh leak in a pipe that had undergone extensive repairs just a month earlier. The leak was discovered after classroom windows fogged up and the floor became hot to the touch.
In addition to the leaking pipes, Ault said the school’s boiler has been intermittently shutting down. While it has restarted each time, the cause of the shutdowns remains unclear.
“We’re not sure why it stops working and why it starts working,” she said.
Ault said the division has spent significant money over the past month addressing heating issues at the middle school, underscoring the urgency of a permanent solution.
“Figuring out a long-term solution like we talked about in our budget goals is just becoming — it’s nonnegotiable,” Ault said. “We have to do it.”
Against that backdrop, Ault provided an update on the programmatic study underway with RRMM Architects, which is examining the feasibility of relocating the middle school to an addition at Parry McCluer High School.
Ault said she met virtually last week with RRMM representatives Chris Phillips and Ben Motley, and that the study is making steady progress. The next phase includes on-site visits to district facilities to better understand specific program needs.
RRMM’s team is scheduled to visit Buena Vista City Public Schools this Thursday, Dec. 18, after a planned visit earlier last week was postponed due to snow. The visit will include tours of the middle school’s shop spaces, the Ramsey Center, and the high school.
That afternoon, Ault said, RRMM will meet with a group of high school teachers to conduct the same type of needs assessment previously completed with middle school staff.
“The process that we did with the middle school was amazing,” she said. “It was just incredibly valuable.”
Ault said the high school meetings will focus on identifying what programs and facilities must be maintained and prioritized, ensuring that any future middle school addition does not come at the expense of high school needs.
“We need to make sure that’s a priority as well as our middleschoolers,” she said. “That will ensure we have a comprehensive understanding of the needs of both schools as we plan that potential move of the middle school to the high school.”
Ault said information gathered from the high school meetings will be shared with the Board once the data from both schools is compiled and evaluated.
