According to Facilities Director John Barlow, with escalating construction costs and the possibility of a number of issues making a large expenditure on an HVAC project at the middle school “not money well spent,” the Board of Education is considering doing a study of all existing facilities.

The August 22 BOE meeting saw extensive discussion over the HVAC project as part of a larger focus on the upcoming Capital Improvement Plan. The school board is looking to finalize its portion of the plan, to be sent to the Board of Finance by the end of September.

While no vote was taken, school board members agreed in theory to moving an estimated $12 million for upgrades to Newtown Middle School’s HVAC system to year three of the plan (2026-27).

There will be no bonding in the first year of the plan, as town officials have agreed to forgo new bonding once every five years. This bonding pause gives the board time to more closely examine this and other projects, while tentatively keeping it as part of the upcoming plan.

Barlow expressed multiple concerns.

First, the $12 million estimated might not be enough. He said that while the preliminary estimate is an increase over what was spent to do the recently finished Hawley HVAC project, he has seen indications that it may not be enough and the true cost of the project could be $20 to $30 million.

Additionally, he is concerned by the fact that the building has issues that should take precedence over an HVAC project, and that could make spending on the HVAC project a waste.

Primary among these is the building envelope.

“If you take the existing envelope and put a high efficiency air conditioning system in, you could end up wasting money,” said Barlow, due to the lower temperature air being able to bleed outside. “It’s not sustainable.”

Barlow also noted the building has groundwater issues and problems with insufficient classroom and learning space sizes that are difficult to fix due to the layout.

The board would look to spend $450,000 on a design / build study of the middle school, as well as a study of the other facilities to determine “the best way to use the available building and square footage to serve the students,” said Barlow.

Several board members questioned whether the school system would need to look into building a new middle school, and if grants would be available for needed work in different scenarios. A scenario of $75 million to refurbish the school and do the HVAC system was mentioned at one point, but as Superintendent Chris Melillo noted, that was the “worst case scenario.”

Grants are available in a number of scenarios, but the final plans would have to be completed before the school could apply to the state for funding.

“We’re currently lacking the information that we need,” said Chairman Deborra Zukowksi, which may justify commissioning the study.

Zukowksi also said it was important to keep some placeholder amount for the middle school HVAC project in the CIP in case a study shows it would be a practical expenditure. She noted the Board of Finance and Legislative Council generally look down on large expenditures that are “added to the plan last-minute” — and had concerns the project would be pushed back even if the school was ready to go.

“We need a placeholder until such a time as we have the information we need,” said Zukowski.

Barlow said there were a number of factors that could affect the pricing, some good, some bad. He told board members the school had more room for ductwork than Hawley, which could save money, but there are “other issues” such as the school having more square footage that would need ductwork.

“We won’t know the numbers until someone with expertise comes in and gives us an estimate,” said Barlow.

The board is expected to further discuss and possibly approve the CIP at its next meeting, scheduled for September 5.

Associate Editor Jim Taylor can be reached at jim@thebee.com.