Board takes step toward cooler school

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REGION 16 — The Region 16 Board of Education last week took a step toward installing air conditioning at Woodland Regional High School.

The board, which oversees schools in Beacon Falls and Prospect, approved a $52,000 agreement with Consulting Engineering Services to design plans to put in air conditioning units, bid out the work and help oversee the project.

When Woodland was built about 16 years ago, the duct work was built to accept air conditioning but air conditioning wasn’t installed as part of the HVAC system, and no designs were drawn for how to do so, according to officials.

The board waived its policy of going out to bid for services exceeding $10,000 before approving the contract Consulting Engineering Services. Superintendent of Schools Michael Yamin Consulting Engineering Services is the firm that originally designed the plans for the HVAC system.

The plan now calls for installing air conditioning one floor at a time starting with the third floor of the school at an estimated cost of $150,000 per floor. The board will seek bids for one floor at a time and doing the entire school in one shot. The money for the work will come from the board’s non-recurring capital account, which is used to pay for one-time expenses.