Snow Removal For School District

Costs $260,000 … So Far

By Eliza Hallabeck

At the Board of Education’s February 15 meeting, board members learned about expenses related to snow removal so far this winter. While the exact cost of snow removal to date so far is unknown, school district Director of Business Ronald Bienkowski estimates the endeavor will cost the district roughly $260,000.

“This past month was an exciting one from an accounting standpoint,” said Mr Bienkowski, when starting his description on the January Financial Report.

The $260,000 estimate is in addition to emergency repairs, like replacing an oil spill container and a broken pipe in two classrooms at Middle Gate School, and includes costs associated with fixing roof leaks at the middle school along with overall snow removal costs.

Speaking from his experiences of going up on school roofs in the last week, school board Chair William Hart said, “We wanted to be doubly sure we are doing the right thing. So we brought a structural engineer in. [School Facilities Director Gino Faiella] and I, and the town building inspector took a firsthand look at both Sandy Hook and the middle school.”

The other schools in the district were also measured, and none of the buildings were found to be over the rated load bearing, according to Mr Hart. Some were within 20 percent of the rate load, Mr Hart said, so snow was removed from those roofs.

Some of the cost related to fixing the leaks at Newtown Middle School, Mr Bienkowski said, may be covered by insurance.