Wappingers Central School District

• Capital Project Update

Capital Projects Update: June 1, 2020

The projects are moving along nicely. We have not stopped since the closing of our school buildings due to the COVID-19. In fact, we have been working 6 days a week. The heating pipes have been installed in the hallways in Roy C. Ketcham. Several rooms have been demoed to make room for the new exhaust fan ductwork and the new heating pipes in the classrooms.  Also, the demolition of the unit ventilators has been completed.  The exhaust fan roof curbs have been installed and are awaiting the new exhaust fans.  Some smaller air conditioning compressors have been craned onto the roof at Roy C. Ketcham.  I have also attached a photo of a box lintel that had to be replaced. At Myers Corners Elementary, the demolition of all the unit ventilators has been completed.  The layout of the penetrations of the exhaust fans has been completed.  The closed control units (CCU) have been installed, along with the new ceilings in the Main Office and Principal’s Office.  

The window projects are also moving along with the following items needing to be completed:  

• cafeteria curtain wall at Brinckerhoff Elementary, three window openings that require masonry restoration
• the curtain wall at the main entrance of Myers Corners Elementary
• punch list items at Gayhead Elementary
• the side entry glass replacement at Kinry Road Elementary
• the library window wall at John Jay HS
• windowsill millwork at the following schools:  John Jay, Myers Corners, Kinry Road, Sheafe Road

Facilities and Operations

Our District Maintenance staff have been busy, catching up with numerous work orders and the remodeling of the Wappingers Junior High bus garage is nearing completion.  We will be requesting bids in the very near future for the new heating systems at the Wappingers Junior High garage and the new archive room.   

Transportation

GREAT NEWS!!  As you were aware, our DOT rating was in the low 80’s.  This means that we only had 80% of our buses passing the required DOT safety inspections.  We were informed this past Tuesday that the Wappingers CSD is now on the preferred inspection list.  In order to get on this list, you must be over 90% passing rate.  We are still waiting for the actual rate, but we do believe we will be in the mid-’90s.  Being on the preferred list allows the DOT inspector to inspect seven buses instead of five per inspection day as he will actually flip a coin on two of the buses - heads being the top part of the buses would be inspected and tails would be the bottom portion of the bus would be inspected.  The remaining five buses would receive a full inspection - top and bottom.  The buses that receive the top or the bottom inspection cannot receive this type of inspection two DOT inspections in a row.  I would like to give the mechanics a shout out for a job well done.  The painting of the bus parking lot at Wappingers Junior High is also nearing completion, as you will see from the photo below.  Also, in a photo below, is the cleaning of the bus wash water recycling pit.  This is done every three months as the grease and the road grime settles to the bottom.    

Energy Performance Project
Evaluation of the kitchen equipment in several of our school buildings is still ongoing with the possibility of starting the replacement of the kitchen equipment at Vassar Road.  

Proper installation of a box lintel

Craning in the new AC units                             

Myers Corners new ceiling

RCK’s new boiler is now completed           

RCK’s new rooftop unit being unloaded

The bus undercarriage wash is working well as you can see from the amount of grease and grime from the bottom of our buses

The bus undercarriage wash is working well as you can see from the amount of grease and grime from the bottom of our buses 

Capital Projects Updated: May 11, 2020

The HVAC at Roy C. Ketcham is moving along nicely, with the demolition being completed in the boiler room.  The new boilers are being installed and hydro tested.  This will be completed by the end of the week (see photos below).  Although there is much more work in the boiler room to be completed, we are ahead of schedule.  The demolition of the exhaust fans will be completed by the end of this week as well.  The installation of the new hydronic piping in the hallways at Roy C. Ketcham has been completed and is awaiting pressure testing and insulation.  Asbestos abatement in the gymnasium area has been completed.  Starting on Friday, asbestos abatement will begin on the exterior louvres.  Once this is completed, abatement will begin in the classrooms, where we will be attaching some pipe chases, as the paint has a small amount of asbestos.  The electrical work at Roy C. Ketcham for the new exhaust fans and rooftop units is also moving along nicely.  As you will see from the picture below, we are bringing power from the switch gear room through the courtyard to the nurse’s office, as that will feed the new rooftop units in the gymnasium.  

Myers Corners Elementary School demolition has started with the unit ventilators, along with the Main Office and the Principal’s Office ceilings to get ready for the installation of the close control units (CCU), which are air conditioning units with a fresh air intake that are mounted in the ceiling.  CCU duct work will begin on Friday.  We also have electricians working, bringing power to all the new units.  The curtain wall window assembly above the main entrance is scheduled to start on 6/23/20.  

John Jay High School windows in the Guidance area and Principal’s area will be completed by the end of next week, 5/22/20.  The curtain wall window system in the library is scheduled to start on 6/23/20.  We are expecting to start demolition at the John Jay Guidance and Principal’s offices on 5/25/20.  After demolition, abatement of the floor tile will begin, along with the installation of the new rooftop units.  

At Kinry Road Elementary School, the installation of the curtain wall window assembly will start with a tentative start date of 5/20/20, with the curtain wall window assembly starting at Brinckerhoff on 6/16/20.  At Sheafe Road Elementary School, three window openings require some masonry work to complete the window installation process.  A punch list for Sheafe Road and Kinry Road has been compiled by the architect and was sent to the contractor to make the corrections noted.   

Facilities and Operations

As you know, we are working on a modified schedule due to COVID-19, but the Maintenance and Custodial staff are following the social distancing guidelines and we are making progress on our cleaning duties.  Our Maintenance staff are gaining on their work orders, along with the restoration of the Wappingers Junior High bus garage.  You will see a photo below of the bus parking area at Wappingers Junior High.  We are currently working to reconfigure the parking lot so we may fit the majority of our smaller buses.  Our Fishkill Plains site will go back to the original configuration when it was built.  

Demolition of our condensation tank and boilers at Roy C. Ketcham

Installation of our new boilers at RCK

New boilers with new hydronic tubes installed

In the middle of the ceiling, you will see the new hydronic piping at RCK     

Here is the trench in the courtyard at RCK where the power conduit will be installed

Here is some of our Maintenance staff installing cement in the old illegal mechanic pit at WJHS garage

Here are two of our custodians using a sealer on the floor after they used a grinder to remove the years of grease and oil at WPJH garage

Here is the finished product of their hard work

Here is our new tire changing room at WJHS garage

Here is the beginning of the realignment of our buses at WPJH 

Capital Projects Update: April 13, 2020

We are making great progress with the District’s HVAC projects. The plan has changed some. We will be completing the entire heating project at Roy C. Ketcham by the end of the summer. John Jay will have several of the rooftop heating and AC units completed this summer along with the remodeling of the main office and guidance office. The remainder of the work (unit ventilators and piping) will be completed in the summer of 2021.  Myers Corners Elementary will have their rooftop units and all new unit-vents completed by the end of August. At Roy C.Ketcham the mains have been installed down the entire second-floor hallways with several of the classroom branch lines also being completed. The electricians have also been pulling wire for all the new exhaust fans in these areas. Also at Roy C. Ketcham the new gas lines for the new rooftop units have been installed but they still need to be pressure tested. Also, the installation of the gas line for the rooftop units at Myers Corners Road Elementary has begun. TBS Controls has been pulling its control cables at John Jay. We have moved them to John Jay so we can maintain a safe environment and keep our 6-foot social distancing with our contractors. All contractors are wearing proper PPE masks and gloves. The District’s window contractor has not been able to work because when installing the windows it takes two people to lift the windows in place and they were not able to maintain the 6-foot separation. With the new guidelines, they can work as long as they are wearing masks and gloves at all times. They will be gearing up to start work again on Monday.

Energy Performance Project
The review with the project manager has started. We have walked the buildings that will be receiving new kitchen equipment so we may install new gas lines to feed the new equipment. The scheduling of the solar panels and the new LED lighting has not been set. We will be reviewing the new equipment with the District’s food service director.

Facilities & Operations
The District’s Maintenance mechanics are remodeling the Wappingers Junior High transportation garage and they are also remodeling the boys room at John Jay High School. Also we have removed some of the loading dock to replace all the plumbing for the bathrooms at the Facilities and Operations building. During the last storm the District lost five  trees at the following schools: Van Wyck, James Evans, Gayhead, Roy C. Ketcham and Fishkill Plains.

Two of our bus mechanics following the six-foot social distancing by working in separate bays

The mail must go on; here is our F&O mechanic installing new brakes in one of our courier vans

New gas line on the roof of RCK 

Here are two of our maintenance mechanics finishing the demolition of John Jay boys’ bathroom where the floor was sinking

Installation of the new plumbing for the bathrooms at F&O

As some of you have seen the old WJHS bus garage, here is the new parts room and bays at the garage … Extreme Makeover, Wappingers Edition by our maintenance staff! 

Here is one of our contractors getting ready to install a hot water heating mains.  This was before the requirement of wearing a mask.  As you will see, they were keeping the six-foot social distancing.  All contractors are now required to wear a mask and gloves.