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Deferred maintenance projects at PSS set to start this summer
An Office of Insular Affairs project addressing deferred maintenance at Public School System schools is set to begin this summer, according to Board of Education chair Herman Guerrero.
OIA-contracted architects and engineers recently gave a presentation to PSS on the implementation of this project, according to Guerrero. They recommended that project priorities be dealt with at same time if needed, to cost-save.
OIA listed electrical, structure, exterior, plumbing, roofing, interior, and mechanical as the areas of priority in their 2013 “Assessment of Classroom and Buildings” report. The office recommended that insular governors set aside $1 million per year for this five-year project.
The project this year focuses on the PSS electrical systems, which for some schools are reportedly not to code. PSS schools are 36 years old on average, according to OIA.
“OIA was basically saying that perhaps when you are dealing with a specific building, you might want to address other things identified in the priorities so you do it at one time,” said Guerrero of the presentation.
“They wanted to do a more methodological way of dealing with an issue and still address one” priority for cost-saving reasons, he said.
He explained that work on electrical might be redone when they work on another priority, like the building’s structure.
“We are talking about Phase 3. Phase 3 is the implementation. That’s why they are sending the architects and engineers out to make sure we coordinate things in terms of what else we need to consider.”
He disclosed the project would start this summer “once school is out.”
Electrical systems in public schools were the most flagged by the OIA in their 2013 report. To name a few, Kagman Elementary School was flagged 11 times for electrical “hazardous” conditions, while the then-San Vicente Elementary School was flagged 10 times, according to OIA.
