Quaker Valley School District's Edgeworth Elementary to get infrastructure upgrades

Quaker Valley School District officials plan to spend about $1.93 million to overhaul Edgeworth Elementary’s HVAC system.

The school directors voted 8-0 on Sept. 23 to award the renovation project to Wexford-based McClure Co. Board Vice President Daniela Helkowski was absent.

Charlie Gauthier, district director of facilities and administrative services, said the school’s equipment has exceeded its expected lifespan. The chiller and cooling tower were not replaced during the school’s last renovation in 2005.

The project is part of the district’s five-year facilities studies plan, which helps identify building needs before they become emergency repairs.

“We want to catch this kind of stuff before there are issues within a building,” Gauthier said. “We have no issues right now, but we know the equipment that is there has reached its life expectancy. It is still functioning. It’s still running. … It’s been 20 years, and that particular equipment has a lifespan of 15 years. We’ve gotten our use out of it.”

Work includes replacement of chillers, a cooling tower, fan motors and renovations to the remaining system.

Work is expected to begin at the end of the school year and be completed before the start of the next school year.

The contract was through the state Energy & Resource Management Office and the Guaranteed Energy Savings Act.

According to the state’s website, the act is used “as a vehicle to decrease growing utility costs.”

This is done via a progressive contracting process that enables mass upgrades of building components, such as lighting, HVAC, etc., to be replaced through a “budget neutral” process.

The district’s facilities committee in November interviewed several candidates to serve as a consultant under the act and McClure was chosen.

McClure Co. worked on a similar project at Osborne Elementary in 2018.

Gianni Floro, board member and operations and facilities committee chair, said having school systems frequently checked is very important, and now is the right time to address Edgeworth’s issues.

“This has been a part of our capital plan for the past couple of years now to get this done,” Floro said. “You look and find when in our budget we can find a sweet spot to fit something like this into. We can get this taken care of right now and addressed so that way later down the road it doesn’t become an issue and (the system) just fails.”

Floro said the five-year capital plan is a state mandate and is a great tool when crafting the district’s budget.

Edgeworth has about 415 students enrolled and the total district enrollment is about 1,820.

High school project update

Floro provided a brief update on the proposed high school project.

The 167,000-square-foot facility is planned on district property that straddles Leet Township, Edgeworth and Leetsdale, but the school will be in the township.

Quaker Valley in April hired Pittsburgh-based construction firm PJ Dick to take the lead in project development and serve as a district liaison in day-to-day operations.

A construction manager’s tasks include carefully evaluating construction documents and project plans as well as assessing project constructability.

Floro said he recently fielded questions from residents asking why no construction has begun.

He explained district officials and their team of architects and engineers continue to seek permits from county, state and federal entities, including the Allegheny County Conservation District, state Department of Environmental Protection and the Army Corps of Engineers.

Floro said he is confident those agencies, much like the district, want the school to be as safe, efficient and well-constructed as possible.

“Unfortunately, we can’t just go build a building,” Floro said. “This is the most important part of the process where the engineers talk to each other in terms of providing the most efficient, safest facility in terms of the site, in terms of the roadway going to the site.

“This is when all those details take place in the permitting process. The permitting process is not something that’s meant to be rubber-stamped. It’s a very important part of the process. It takes a great deal of time, thought and effort. We’re thankful to have a great team in place. We’re thankful to have good colleagues to work with on the other side of the bench.”

It’s unclear when those permits may be approved. The project can go out for contract bids, however, no ground will be moved without the approvals.

Meeting location change

September’s school board meeting took place at Parkway West Career & Technology Center in Oakdale. Its workshops and voting sessions are usually at Edgeworth Elementary.

Quaker Valley is one of 12 school districts that sends students to the trade training facility, which offers about a dozen programs of study, including cosmetology, carpentry, auto body repair, automotive and diesel technology and veterinary assistant technology.

School directors and administrators were treated to a meal by the center’s culinary students prior to the meeting.

Center officials delivered a presentation prior to school board business, during which they highlighted Quaker Valley student success as well as talked about how increased enrollment is creating the need for more space.

Parkway West officials said there are 53 Quakers enrolled at the center this school year, one more than the previous year.

District officials said they appreciated the center’s hospitality and were pleased to hear about its growth.