New York Elementary School

Following private, state and Lawrence school district inspections, New York Elementary School will soon begin a final set of reviews.

All of the reviews of the building are standard, but district officials have said extra diligence has been paid to New York after the Lawrence school board voted to dismiss its contractor following concerns with the construction site. Attention was drawn to the project at New York after an 8-year-old boy was severely injured there in August.

The state fire marshal inspected the school in mid-December, and Lawrence schools Superintendent Rick Doll said the fire marshal will return this week for a follow-up inspection to make sure all issues have been corrected. Most of the corrections involved doors being propped open, improper use of appliances and incomplete records for tests of the school’s alarm systems.

“Most issues noted in this fire inspection report involve changing human behavior,” Doll said via email. “The school district works on an ongoing basis to educate our 1,800+ staff about fire safety issues, including regulations about door stops, power strips, personal appliances and record keeping.”

District officials also said they are working on issues with the school’s heating system that were causing some staff to use space heaters to warm offices and classrooms. As part of New York’s renovation, it received a new heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system that required some adjustments.

Kyle Hayden, assistant superintendent of business and operations for the district, said that the issue had to do with the amount of outside air the HVAC system was pulling into the school. Hayden said adjustments to those levels are typical and don’t indicate a mechanical problem.

“It’s an adjustment that’s made whether the system is new or not,” he said. “There are more adjustments that need to be made when the system is new, just because everything has to be tested and balanced.”

Hayden said buildings in the district are set at 71 degrees, and while a room’s temperature can be adjusted up or down 5 degrees, those adjustments are temporary and some may elect to bring space heaters to maintain a warmer temperature.

“Whether it’s a new building, an old building, an office space, a classroom, you’re going to have different people have different preferences,” he said, noting that although space heaters are allowed, the district doesn’t encourage them because of energy use.

The final set of reviews on the school — called commissioning services — will be conducted in the spring or summer. The district has contracted with the firm Viridian and has begun planning the reviews of New York, as well as 15 other schools. The reviews take three to five days and make sure HVAC, electrical and lighting systems are functioning as intended, said Tony Barron, director of facilities and operations for the district.

“They’re basically ensuring that we’re getting the services that we’ve paid for through the bond project, making sure that we meet those requirements and if for some reason we haven’t we’ll go back to our contractors and ask them to fulfill that,” Barron explained.

Barron said the review will also look at whether systems are functioning efficiently, and that the commissioning agent will deliver a final report to the district. The reviews are coordinated with contractors and the schools and are in the process of being scheduled, he said.