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Grauer elementary is one of 17 Richmond schools slated for ventilation upgrades in the next 17 months.
Photo by Hannah Scott
School district to invest $12 million in ventilation upgrades
By Hannah Scott, Local Journalism Initiative reporter
Published 12:12 PDT, Thu March 31, 2022
Last Updated: 12:28 PDT, Thu March 31, 2022
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Seventeen Richmond schools are slated for ventilation upgrades, with school board trustees voting in favour of a $12 million package at this week’s board meeting.
The pandemic has highlighted the lack of mechanical ventilation in many older Richmond public schools, according to a report to the board. Ventilation can only be produced by opening windows built above radiators to warm the in-coming air.
The district’s facilities services department estimated the cost based on allowances for electrical and boiler upgrades as necessary, as well as removal of hazardous materials like asbestos.
Six of the schools are already scheduled for upgrades as part of existing projects: Bridge, Ferris, McKinney, Mitchell, Tomsett, and Whiteside elementary schools. Meanwhile, Blundell, Cook, Dixon, Garden City, Gilmore, Grauer, Kidd, Lee, McKay, Steves, and Woodward elementary schools will also be upgraded as part of the project.
The topic first came up at February’s board meeting. There was some concern that investing in mechanical ventilation would take away from seismic projects or affect funds earmarked to purchase a site for the future City Centre elementary school.
“Staff don’t believe that proceeding with this program using local capital reserves will have a negative impact on future seismic upgrades,” said the district’s executive director of facilities services Frank Geyer.
He added that staff consider the program to be important and timely. While the ventilation issue has always existed, the pandemic brought it to the forefront.
Geyer said staff will work to save money, aiming to stay under the $12 million budget by synchronizing work with other capital projects. For example, if a wall was to be opened up for seismic upgrades and then opened up again for HVAC upgrades to heat, cool, and move air, approval of this program enables those upgrades to be done simultaneously to save money.
Several trustees expressed a wish for the provincial Ministry of Education to provide more funding for ventilation and other appropriate improvements. Currently, provincial capital funding is uncertain, meaning that it would take over 10 years to complete a retrofit using only existing ministry funding.
Trustee Ken Hamaguchi, who chairs the facilities and building committee at which the issue was discussed, said if ministry funding for ventilation is announced in the future he will advocate for repayment. Hamaguchi added he will also advocate to the B.C. government to fund the City Centre school when it is needed.
The program and funding passed with trustee Donna Sargent opposed. The target completion date for the program is Aug. 31, 2023.
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