Tired Schools Maintenance Workers Hard Pressed To Keep Up With Repairs At Central Valley’S Two High Schools

The guts of Central Valley’s two high schools — the electrical, heating, plumbing systems — are old and tired, officials say.

Central Valley High School is 41 years old; University High School is 37. The schools are up for replacement and renovation, with a $78 million bond election in September.

The two high schools swallowed up 2,100 hours of maintenance work in the past year. That’s enough to keep one maintenance worker busy — all year with no days off.

“The central facilities are outdated and overtaxed,” says Superintendent Wally Stanley. “But we’re not talking about building new schools just for today’s students. We’re talking about serving students over the next 30 years.”

While a dinosaur of a heating system can make everyone miserable, and an ailing plumbing system costs headaches and money, it’s the electrical wiring that affects education the most.

Never mind tomorrow — today’s technology is mostly on hold at the two high schools. Most classrooms at CV and U-Hi have a dual outlet in the front and one in the back.

“In the ‘50s, there wasn’t much to plug in,” says electrician Mark Sevigney. “In the ‘60s, there still wasn’t much, except for projectors.”

At CV, current world affairs teacher Steve Bernard is known for using technology. Even he has no phone line to his class, and no Internet access. He runs five computers, two televisions with VHS machines and a laser disc in his class. That’s possible only via a web of extension cords and power strips, plus an add-on outlet run from his light switch.

“I’m not an electrician, but I’m guessing we’re loading it up,” Bernard says.

The electrical panels are full; there’s no room for expansion. CV’s head custodian Maurice Poole estimates more than 50 extension cords are in regular use in the school.

“We daisy-chain power strips together. It’s nuts,” says Tim Byus, head of maintenance for the district.

“The electrical inspector would go nuts,” offers one candid electrician on the maintenance crew.

In one CV computer lab, power cords dangle from the ceiling, connecting to power strips.

And sections of buried electrical conduit are rotted and have to be replaced on an ongoing basis.

At CV, the intercom is akin to string and tin cans, the maintenance guys say. If a teacher were to call the office in an emergency, the only way the office could tell who is calling is by recognizing the teacher’s voice. It’s due to be replaced this summer. At U-Hi, a new intercom system was installed last week, correcting the same kind of problem.

Why spend the money? Even with a successful bond election, classes will be held at today’s high schools for another four years - two years for planning, two years for building.

Here are some of the other problems at Central Valley’s high schools:

Heating: Bernard has given up on the thermostat in his classroom. To keep it comfortable in the winter, he opens or closes the windows.

A CV classroom heater runs on something called a steam coil. It looks sort of like a car radiator, with a forest of aluminum fins to dissipate the heat.

Ron Wolfe, who works on the schools’ heating and air conditioning systems, points out a steam coil that’s had chunks of its fins cut off. The internal copper pipe has worn thin from decades of use. Patch that pipe and the unit’s fine, if you don’t count the loss of those fins.

Wolfe salvaged some steam coils from the old Bowdish Junior High School. Others he sends to Colville for repair.

“You can’t buy them new any more except by special order,” he says.

Both CV and U-Hi are heated by a steam-pressure system. That means the central steam boilers must run at 240 degrees. A modern hot-water system would run at 110 degrees.

“With systems this old, something breaks,” Byus says. Valves or diaphragms or thermostats. When they can’t replace, they improvise.

Plumbing: Water and sewer lines are old enough that sections have to be dug up and replaced on an ongoing basis.

At CV, the urinals are of the old style with continuous flushing. Every four or five minutes, each urinal in the high school flushes. “Twenty-four hours a day. There’s no way to shut ‘em off,” says plumber Todd Hawkins.

Roofs: Carpenter Ray Siegel admits that the roofs at U-Hi don’t look too bad. “If you don’t know that I’ve patched (one wing) 50 or 60 times.” A leak may start at point A and not emerge in the ceiling until it’s 40 feet away.

There’s dry rot in places. The decking on U-Hi is four-inch cedar - unheard of, at today’s prices.

Ceiling tiles are so old they’re impossible to replace.

If you’re lucky, you can get the old floor tiles, though. For a price. A case of new floor tiles runs $22. A case of the old tiles costs $140.

Windows: The maintenance crew just laughs when asked about windows at the two high schools.

They’re thin, single-pane glass and a significant part of the temperature problems at both schools.

At U-Hi, windows in each science room are marked as exits. But the hinges and other hardware aren’t available any more.

So, the last time the hardware broke on one of those windows, the maintenance guys pulled down the exit sign and bolted the window shut.

“You get to the point where you can’t jury-rig things anymore than they’ve already been jury-rigged,” Stanley said. “You reach a point when the integrity of the structure is no longer there.”

“When do you reach that critical mass point when you say we’re better off replacing the whole thing? I think we’re there.”

WHAT WOULD CHANGE Central Valley School District is planning major changes at its two high schools if voters approve a $78 million bond issue. Here are some of the plans: At Central Valley High School, the front wing along Sullivan Road is to be removed. The front of the new school would become the eastern wing of the school, where the library is now. The remaining two-thirds of the school would undergo a major renovation, much as has occurred at Bowdish Junior High. The change would move CV about 100 feet away from Sullivan to allow more room for buses and parents dropping off students. A new University High School would be built on 48 acres at 32nd and Pines. The district would then move ninth-graders into the high schools.