If there’s a silver lining to the shelter-in-place and distance learning mandates brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s that school construction projects can move faster and more efficiently.
Gwinnett has a few dozen buildings that need new roofs, upgraded HVAC, new flooring, outdoor lighting, etc. And even routine maintenance often has to be relegated to weekends and school holidays. The district had anticipated trying to squeeze as much as possible into spring break and over summer recess, but with many schools empty right now, crews can get much more done without worrying about students and staff being inconvenienced or put in harm’s way.
“Now is a great time to get that done,” said Steve Flynt, associate superintendent for school improvement and operations. “Most years the time is compressed and we’re working feverishly to get everything done. If there’s a positive to come out of this, that would be it.”
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The quiet in the halls of Shiloh Middle School was a little eerie on a recent crisp spring day. With no scampering of students throughout the building, new cafeteria lighting is almost complete. The LEDs will burn brighter, cooler and use far less electricity, said Steve Jaggears, director of building maintenance.
“The district isn’t using this facility to prepare meals for pickup or bus delivery so we were able to get moving on this sooner than expected,” he said. “We started about a week ago and it should be wrapped up by the end of this week.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution saw firsthand how even preventive maintenance is easier to take care of when the parking lot is nearly empty and it’s OK to take the air conditioning offline.
A two-man crew came to the Snellville middle school to make sure the 80-ton heating and cooling system is running at peak efficiency.
“Unlike the system in your home that blows air, this circulates water,” said Jaggears. “It doesn’t bring in cool air, it takes the hot air outside.”
Master craftsmen Reggie Turner and Gary Cloer spent the day checking out the equipment — something they might have had to come in on a weekend to do. And having the extra time allows the school district to use staff on hand instead of contracting out some work.
“We use about 30 to 40% contract labor every year,” said Jaggears. “We still have to bid out the big jobs, but things like this can be handled in house.”
That’s the case with a huge bid project a few miles northwest in Lilburn at Berkmar High School.
A new film and digital arts program is set to come online in August 2021. One of the projects financed by Gwinnett’s 2017-2022 penny sales tax for education, the school built in 1966 will allow students to graduate with college credit, industry certifications and dual enrollment courses.
The wing will hold a 500-seat theater, classrooms to accommodate band, orchestra, chorus and MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface), a computer protocol that allows electronic instruments and other digital musical tools to communicate with each other. But unlike Paul Duke STEM and McClure Healthcare, the newest schools to open in Gwinnett County, there are people working and learning on the other side of the walls going up.
“Although the existing school isn’t part of the construction zone, it makes things run smoother having almost the entire parking lot for materials and machinery and not having to worry about cars and buses,” said Eddie Hicks, construction coordinator.
This project is especially near to his heart because he graduated from Berkmar in 1983.
“There may have been days when we had to suspend or change construction because of what was happening at the school,” said Hicks. “We never lose sight of why we do this. It’s all for the kids.”
By the numbers
The Gwinnett County Public Schools building maintenance department completed 85,094 work orders in the 2018-2019 school year. Approximately 35-40% of them would have been preventative maintenance work orders.
In the next 45 days, Gwinnett has approximately 2,400 planned preventive maintenance work orders.
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