March 19, 2008

Engineer tells NW board that Norwell High School has some major problems

They both agree.

Members of the Northern Wells School Board Tuesday evening heard the second of two structural analyses on the Norwell High School building. Tuesday night’s analysis by Jim McClain, P.E. of Structural Engineering Services of Fort Wayne, sounded pretty much like the one provided to the board by Kurt Heidenreich of Engineering Resources at the Feb. 26 board meeting.

The two areas of most concern are the west side of the auditorium and the north side of the gym. That’s the area where the 1968 Butler-designed Delta Joist System joins the traditional masonry portion of the building.

Just as Heidenreich said last time, McClain confirmed some separation is occurring, likely caused by snow load, and both areas need to be addressed soon, especially since there is a potential for failure under high load situations—such as heavy snow drifting or extreme ice loads.

“We recommend that the entire corridor along the west side of the auditorium be reconstructed with bar joist,” said McClain.

He added, “Our office recommends that the bottom chords along the north side of the gymnasium be straightened and reinforced with additional angles.”

Just as Heidenreich did last month, McClain told the board Tuesday night that this is something that really can’t be put off.

Regarding the condition of the roof deck, McClain said, “Visually we found a number of spots of rust on the roof deck. We found in the wrestling room two areas that have rusted clear through. Our recommendation is to tear out some of that roof deck and replace it in place. Not that much square footage will be required to be replaced. If you proceed with this we will come back and do additional observations and inspections to find additional areas where roof deck needs replaced.”

Another area that needs to be addressed is the outer roof, he said. “The original design called for a built up roof. What you have up there is a ballasted membrane roof that is adding six to eight pounds more weight per square foot than what the roof was made for.” Like Heidenreich he agreed that the Delta trusses were not designed to support that kind of weight.

Also, the exterior brick veneer/concrete block walls are permitting water infiltration and the exterior brick pilasters were not supported as the original design called for with concrete. Instead, steel plates were put below the pilasters and those have rusted and disintegrated with time, causing the pilasters to sag. “These will need to be repaired or replaced soon,” said McClain.

Finally, regarding protection in a tornado, the Butler designed portion of the building does not offer adequate protection for students, said McClain, although protection could be afforded in the traditional masonry design portions of the building.

McClain believed that none of the problems with the building were fatal. “With these repairs you can get 20 more years out of it easily,” he said.

He added that he did not believe that addressing the problems would cost all that much either. “I don’t think there’s that much money involved with these repairs, but that is something that will have to be established,” he said.

“If you’re thinking about doing something soon, we need to put a price together with options. I feel strongly that I need to work with John to do more examining of the building,” he said adding that he’s pretty sure he’s found all of the major structural flaws but would like to give the building a better looking over before putting together a final drawing.

Board president Gene Donaghy observed there would still be a problem with installing a new heating/air conditioning duct work system through the Delta joists. McClain said that in the hallway areas around the gym and auditorium, that shouldn’t pose much of a problem, but he didn’t address Donaghy’s question regarding the rest of the building. Instead he essentially suggested that if the board wanted to keep the ceilings at their present height, they would have to find a duct system that would fit through the Delta joists.

The next step in the process is to determine how best to address the structural deficiencies identified by both McClain and Heidenreich.

Supt. Dr. Scott Mills said he will review the reports from both engineers with building and grounds supervisor John Kochert and set a course of action toward addressing the problems identified in each report. He will report back to the board in the future.

In other business, the board members approved of fees and textbook rental for Ossian and Lancaster elementary schools next school year.

The good news, according to Lancaster Principal Steve Darnell and Ossian Principal Shellie Miller, is that the fees will not increase next year. The decision was made to keep them the same.

They will be as follows:

—Kindergarten, $90

—First grade $124

—Second grade $108

—Third grade $122

—Fourth grade $120

—Fifth grade $114

There were also some changes made to the student/parent handbooks. The most major change deals with excused absences. Before three absences without a doctor’s note and six total were permitted for every nine weeks. The new rule will be three without a doctor’s note and six total per semester.

Darnell observed the old policy allowed students to miss too many days.

However, board member Michelle Brown-Stohler pointed out that the new policy has been written in such a way that it does not convey its intent. Instead, it appeared to state that six days could be missed per semester without a doctor’s note. Miller and Darnell agreed that the language needed to be changed and they would do that before making a final presentation to the board at the next regular meeting.

Additional changes include a tightening of the dress code, removal of all reference to half-day kindergarten and a change for the removal of letter grades.

The board did not vote on the changes Tuesday night but will address them again at the next meeting.

In other business, the board members:

—Approved of a waiver for language arts textbooks at Ossian and Lancaster Elementary Schools next year. Instead of using books on the state list, the schools will be using books that better fit the literacy programs already in place at the two schools,

—Approved of a procedure recommended by Mills for setting two conferences for non-renewal of any non-permanent teacher’s contract.

—Learned from business manager Brandon Penrod that a target balance has been set for sweeping funds from the corporation checking account into higher interest accounts.

—Learned from Penrod that the school corporation may need to seek a tax anticipation warrant to cover a potential budget shortfall created by the delay in property tax distribution.

—Learned from Penrod that the wage hearing has been held on the summer projects that will require bidding. Also advertising for bids for the reverse osmosis water project for the high school will be March 20 and 27 in both the Bluffton News-Banner and the Ossian Journal.

—Learned from Penrod that the circuit breaker property tax proposal will cost the school corporation $6,000 in lost revenue in 2009 and $16,000 to $18,000 in 2010. The budgets to be affected will be the capital projects fund, the transportation fund and/or the school bus replacement fund.

—Learned from Mills that long-time Ossian Elementary teacher Joan Furey plans to retire at the end of the school year. Donaghy recognized Furey for her long tenure and devotion to Ossian Elementary and assured she would be missed.

—Accepted the resignation of Norwell High School teacher Jason Arnold. He has accepted the position of head football coach at South Adams High School.

—Approved of medical leaves for Marla Donaghy, Norwell Middle School cafeteria, Matt Greene, Norwell High School teacher and Marcia Hunter, Ossian teacher. Donaghy abstained from the vote because Marla Donaghy is his wife.

—Approved of hiring retired Southern Wells School principal Jim Schwarzkopf as a substitute for Greene and Melinda Daugherty as a substitute for Hunter.

—Hired Byron Gerber as a technician technology resource.

—Approved of an overnight trip for the FFA to the FFA Center in Trafalger for the “Made for Excellence” conference March 29-30.

—Learned from Mills that 11 Norwell students in Business Professionals of America qualified for the national competition in Reno, Nev., May 7-9. Mills observed in the past, because the national competition has been held on the same weekend as prom, that some students have tried to get back in time for prom. “That may be a little difficult to do from Reno,” said Mills.

At the conclusion of Tuesday’s meeting, Donaghy expressed the board’s condolences to the family of George Park, who died Monday at the age of 91. A longtime supporter of Norwell athletics and activities, Donaghy said that Park will be greatly missed.

The next regular meeting of the board is set for Tuesday, April 8, at 5:30 p.m.

Email Glen Werling