School roof project now an emergency

BY VINCENT TODARO
Staff Writer

SPOTSWOOD — The recent storm that flooded much of the borough has taken a toll on the Appleby School.

The heavy rains of July 17 came through an aging roof that school officials have sought to replace in recent years but could not due to budget woes and changing state laws. Officials were expecting to replace and repair parts of the roof later this summer, but as a result of the storm, the new roof will likely be put in place even sooner.

District officials are categorizing the roof work as an emergency upgrade.

Board of Education President Alan Bartlett said the torrential rain from the storm seeped into the school’s classrooms, damaging walls, ceiling tiles, rugs and even some computers.

The board is now asking the county for permission to fast-track the roof project.

Bartlett said the reason for pushing the roof ahead of schedule is because the items damaged by the storm also need to be repaired or replaced. It makes no sense to replace those items, but leave them under the current roof and thus subject to more damage from rain. And it will take a couple of weeks after the new roof is complete to repair or replace those items.

“Now we need it earlier, because we need time afterward to do the other work,” he said.

The roof was originally slated to be replaced a couple of weeks before school started, he said, but is being pushed up about three weeks.

Construction will begin right after work on the school’s parking lot is complete, Bartlett said.

Only about one-third of the roof, the older section, will be replaced, he said.

The school district’s insurance will pay for damage that occurred due to the storm. The damage was the result of both the condition of the roof and the fierceness of the storm, Bartlett said.

The odor left by the water must be removed, in addition to the repairs and replacements.

In order to have the work fast-tracked, Superintendent of Schools Anthony Vaz had to declare the project an emergency and a report had to be filed with the county and state.

“We need to bypass the normal paperwork process. There’s less formality to it,” Bartlett said of the procedure.

Bartlett learned Monday that the roof will cost $706,000, though a total of just $516,000 has been budgeted for roof work at Appleby and Schoenly schools. He said the district will ask the county for permission to move at least $160,000 out of surplus for the project, a move that would reduce the district’s surplus account to $215,000.

He said the board would further discuss the Schoenly roof later this summer.

The Appleby roof has been a point of contention with the board. Last year, after the school budget was defeated, the board made a budget transfer so the roof could still be constructed. However, the state clamped down on such transfers, saying they undercut the popular votes. The transfer had to be rescinded and the money had to be used for tax relief.

The board then included the roof in the 2005-06 budget, but after that was defeated, it faced questions about whether the work could be put off even longer. The roof, Bartlett said, has only survived in the past because the district had it patched. The old roof still leaked, however.

Once approved by the county, the district will still need to solicit bids and award a contract for the work.