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OIA-suggested upgrades for schools still awaits funding
The Public School System is eager to begin chipping away at its $11-million deferred maintenance, $1 million of which has been characterized as “urgent health and safety” deferred maintenance; however, a source of funding still need to be squared away.
According to an Oct. 2 letter, PSS and the Board of Education have asked Gov. Eloy S. Inos to meet and discuss the funding status of phase 1 of an Office of Insular Affairs-backed initiative to address deferred maintenance in public schools.
In a 2013 report, OIA flagged PSS 57 times for “hazardous” conditions under electrical deferred maintenance.
OIA has advised insular governors to set aside $1 million every year for five years from its annual federal Capital Improvement Project funds to address issues raised in the report.
As of yesterday, the letter has yet to be acknowledged, according to board chair Herman Guerrero.
Phase 1 of the initiative focuses on the electrical system upgrades needed in many of the decades-old public school buildings. Phase 1 is primarily but not limited to electrical systems and fire alarms, according to PSS.
Other than electrical needs, other areas of priority are structure, exterior, plumbing, roofing, interior, and mechanical.
These will be addressed with the remaining $4 million from years 2-5 of the OIA-recommended timeline.
But even if PSS receives $5 million over a five-year period, $6.3 million of the outstanding deferred maintenance will still remain.
The cost of deferred maintenance may continue to increase every year if the problems are not repaired and addressed, according to the PSS CIP office.
Deferred maintenance is postponement measure for projects that are put on hold, where repairs are neglected and preventative maintenance is ignored.
