The District utilizes a Facility Improvement Plan (FIP) to identify and recommend capital projects for the current fiscal year as well as those in the District’s five-year forecast. These capital projects below are termed Permanent Improvement (PI) projects.  They align with the District’s strategic plan and take into consideration the competing needs and requirements of the District.  In addition to these Permanent Improvement (PI) projects that are done annually, the District also completes routine maintenance under our maintenance plan and other smaller projects over the summers to provide improved functionality to the District facilties.

Summary of Major Projects for Summer 2023

HVAC Renovation - Phase 4

■      Campus / Building: High School and Middle School

■      Budget Amount: $2,105,000 (Off-Set by Grant Funds through ESSER in the amount of $1,058,000)

The District is investing significant funds to improve the functionality of its HVAC system. The district has a five-year phase-in plan to upgrade and modernize the system, and this is the fourth phase of the plan.  The fourth phase includes extending chilled water piping to a number of classrooms in the High School, replacing 24 unit ventilators, and extending chilled water piping to the High School Gym, locker rooms, and fitness center. The Middle School will also receive some replacement controls for air handlers and new Variable Air Volume (VAV) equipment.  In addition, the district is implementing non-ozone generating bi-polar ionization technology into its HVAC systems. This technology is proven to kill viruses and pathogens, and it also reduces Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and eliminates odors.  The district is committed to ensuring optimal air quality in its schools and it is adhering to the CDC/EPA recommendations for air circulation and filtration management.

Notes: Due to the bids exceeding the original estimate we had to reduce the scope of work scheduled for this summer and move it to next summer. Instead of replacing 24 unit ventilators we replace 17. We extended the chilled water system to the locker rooms but did not replace the units in the gym or fitness center. We had to remove the bi-polar ionization technology from the units this summer. The plan is to add it next summer.

Paving - Phase 5

■      Campus / Building: All Campuses

■      Budget Amount: $ 171,000

Paving improvements at all campuses are routinely done each summer in order to maintain and improve our hardscape assets.  This summer we are attending to the 7-12 Campus Site by paving the North Drive with a top coat.  We will also attend to some overlay patching as needed on the campus.  We plan to complete some seal coating in a number of lots and driveways on this campus in order to protect it.  At the Gurney Campus there will be some paving on the West Loop which will get a top coat.  The Gurney playground lot and the main parking lot will get some overlay patching and seal coating for protection.   Additionally there will be some patching at the bus garage for that pavement.  At the Intermediate School all pavement will get sealcoated in order to maintain it’s “like new” quality.

Outdoor Extended Learning Areas

■      Campus / Building: 7-12 Campus / Gurney Campus

■      Budget Amount: $ 161,000

The District has been working on improving the functionality and learning environment to key outdoors spaces on both the 7-12 Campus and the Gurney Campus.  This project improves some key hard-scape areas with outdoor tables, seating areas, and planters in order to better utilize some of our key areas for student learning and to add some key safety features at each campus.

Notes: This project is ongoing and the work planned for this year will be completed this fall.

Roofing Replacement

■      Campus / Building: High School

■      Budget Amount: $170,000

The Art Wing Roof was replaced at the High School.  Roof replacement is part of a long-term District-wide roofing plan to continually address roofing needs and make certain the building assets are protected in a proactive manner.  

District Phone System Project

■      Campus / Building: All Campuses and All Buildings

■      Budget Amount: $115,000

The District previously used a hosted voice over IP solution which was aging and difficult to manage with the phone handsets well past their useful life.  This project replaces the existing phone system with a solution that is a Cisco based hosted voice over IP environment and includes replacement of all of the District’s existing handsets and classroom phone systems.  The new system is compliant with intelligent 911 emergency protocols.

Bus Purchases

■      Campus / Building: Buses - Transportation Department

■      Budget Amount: $194,000

Our long-term bus replacement plan calls for two buses to be purchased in FY2023.  In FY2024 the District expects to purchase 3 buses.  Routine annual bus replacement aims to keep the average bus age in our fleet at around 5 years of age in order to continue to provide savings in operations costs, maintenance of buses, and safe continuity of the fleet.

Safety and Security Focused Improvements 

■      Campus / Building: All Campuses and All Buildings

■      Budget Amount: OFCC Safety and Security Grants

●      2021 Grant Award Amount -  $177,620

●       2022 Grant Award Amount  - $216,833

Grant funds are being applied to security improvements that include access control system improvements, classroom door and door hardware systems, safety alert systems, camera hardware / software, portal radios systems, safety signage, and other security improvements.

Flooring Updates

■      Campus / Building: 7-12 Campus and Gurney School - Various Spaces

■      Budget Amount: $35,000

The district completes an annual assessment for flooring then annually replaces and improves flooring that is nearing the end of its useful life.  This summer we replaced and/or upgraded floors in spaces at Gurney Elementary, high school, middle school, performing arts center, and shared space.  

Early Learning Village (Gurney Preschool Facility)

■      Campus / Building: Gurney Campus

■      Budget Amount: $650,000 - $700,000

The Gurney Early Learning Village creates a self-contained preschool facility on the Gurney School property. The project includes four classroom configuration and support spaces for general classroom use, designated spaces for speech and language, occupational, and physical therapies.  The facility has a new circular pavement feature for parent drop off and pick up. A new preschool playground is relocated to the rear of the building adjacent to the new Early Learning Village.  A ramp with covered awning has been added to provide proper egress. The facility is fully ADA compliant, contains restrooms, and is fully secured.  The life cycle of the facility is expected to be at least 15 years.

This summer is a bit more active than other summers.  The Chagrin Falls School District typically budgets around $2 million per year for capital improvement projects. This year, the budget is $3.6 million, due to additional grant funds from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER). The annual $2 million funding amount is based on a best practice funding model that aims to provide a targeted annual expenditure of 2-4% of the plant replacement value (PRV) of the school buildings (*).

The District's Capital Planning Committee (CPC) develops the Facilities Improvement Plan (FIP), which lays out projects for the upcoming five fiscal years. The FIP is based on data from the Facility Condition Assessment (FCA), which identifies and prioritizes existing deferred maintenance and identifies projects that may need renewal.

The District uses CPMS Capital Planning Management Software to collect and manage asset information. This software helps the District to manage and forecast needs and lifecycle costs, and to develop models for multi-year capital plans.

The District is committed to investing in its facilities to ensure that they are safe, efficient, and up-to-date. The FIP provides a roadmap for these investments, and the CPC is working to ensure that the District's facilities are well-maintained for years to come.  The FIP and other project update information can be found at this webpage: https://www.chagrinschools.org/o/cfevs/page/capital-plan

Footnote:

(*) - Our funding amount annually is based off a number of factors including information from the National Clearinghouse for Education Facilities (NCEF) study through the U.S. Department of Education as well as study from  from Carnegie Mellon University titled Bello, M. A., & Loftness, V. (2010). Addressing inadequate investment in school facility maintenance