HARDWICK – Mountainview Union Elementary School District (MVU) voters in Hardwick, Greensboro, Stannard and Woodbury will have the opportunity to vote on the $8.97 million school budget and a $1.2 million bond to mitigate PCBs in Hardwick Elementary School (HES), town meeting day, Tuesday, March 4.
courtesy rendering
The budget represents an increase of 16.37% over the current year’s budget, said the district’s warning. It “will result in per pupil education spending of $15,582.40.”
“The proposed $1.2 million bond is intended to cover the cost of addressing indoor air quality at Hardwick Elementary School after state-mandated testing revealed elevated levels of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs).
“The project is planned to start as soon as school is out in June, and is expected to take about 10 weeks to complete,” notes the district’s warning.
courtesy rendering
A district information site provides information and answers to questions, indicating, a process that began with testing in October 2023 identified four classrooms with PCB levels above the state’s School Action Limit (SAL), requiring further attention.
Those four classrooms were closed while students and staff were moved around in the building.
Harper Environmental was hired to conduct further testing and provide recommendations for dealing with the PCBs.
Air filtration units were installed to help mitigate PCB levels in the affected areas and barrier tape was applied to problem caulk joints. Two more rounds of air testing were completed with mixed results after those were installed in August 2024.
courtesy drawing
All materials in the affected portion of the building were analyzed in October 2024, from floor tiles, to wall paint, to ceiling tiles and glue dobs on the back of chalkboards. That testing identified PCBs at actionable levels in some school materials.
With that testing completed, a project plan was developed. The planned work will remove materials containing the highest concentrations of PCBs from the building. The gym lobby windows and doors will be removed and replaced with new materials. Floor tiles and mastic will be removed from eight classrooms. All walls and floors in those rooms will be sealed with epoxy to prevent any release of latent PCBs from the concrete and masonry.
The exterior wall system will be removed from four first floor and four second floor rooms between the bricked ends of the wall facing the church. Masonry will be ground down to remove as much PCB material as practical. Exposed masonry will then be sealed with epoxy and a new wall system, with more thermally efficient windows and siding, will be constructed.
The bond refers to energy efficiency upgrades because, in addition to removing the PCB-containing materials from the building, the improved thermal efficiency of the new wall system is predicted to reduce energy consumption by approximately 8.4% annually. That savings of over $4500 per year qualifies the project for reduced interest rates from the Vermont Municipal Bond Bank. In order to qualify for that program, the project needs to be labeled as an energy efficiency project.
The estimated cost of the project is $1,180,000, says the district. A small contingency is built into the bond amount and capital reserve funds would cover any additional project costs. The actual bond payment will be dependent on the total amount borrowed and the interest rate at the time of closing. Preliminary estimates put the payment at $135,000, approximately 1.5% of the total MVU budget each year, for a total cost of $1,350,000 over 10 years.
A state School Construction Aid Program would have covered at least a portion of the cost, but it is currently under suspension by the Vermont State Legislature because the cost of Act 74 to pay for school PCB mitigation has exceeded funding for it.
By following the proper protocol, the district expects to be eligible for funding if it again becomes available.
While Gov. Scott has proposed roughly $9 million for PCB cleanup in next year’s state budget, the district says it’s been told “Currently, the money is being prioritized for schools that have more occupancy restrictions than Hardwick. If there is available funding after that work is complete, Hardwick would be eligible for any remaining funding.”
The MVU board and administration are actively in contact with legislators and state agencies encouraging them to provide funding for Hardwick Elementary as well.
If the bond vote is successful, the district expects work will begin as soon as school is out in June. The project is estimated to take about eight to 10 weeks to complete, which should make the rooms ready for students near the start of the new school year.
Because the timeline for a project as large as this can change, school administrators say they are making arrangements to open the school year with spaces reconfigured within the building until classrooms are ready. Fifth and sixth grades could move into temporary spaces in the gym and cafeteria. Special ed, music, the nurse’s office and others can relocate and share space if necessary.
Moving students to another site temporarily was investigated, said the district. “The complexity of providing all services at a separate location and detachment from their peers outweighs the drawbacks of short-term shuffling within the school building.”
If state funding arrives, it can be put against the cost of the project or cost of the bond which will have no prepayment penalty, said the district. In the meantime, in order to protect the health and safety of students and staff, the district feels it is appropriate to move forward with this project.
If the bond vote fails, students would temporarily be allowed to remain in the spaces currently being used, but at some point the PCBs will need to be cleaned up, says the district. “In the meantime, the filter units running in classrooms create nuisance noise and in warmer temperatures it is likely that some rooms exceed the Immediate Action Level (IAL) threshold, making them unsafe for students.
The state has set two thresholds for occupancy. Exceeding the SAL allows for spaces to be occupied as long as mitigation measures are in place and/or remediation work is being pursued. Eight classrooms at HES have exceeded the SAL during at least one of three rounds of testing. Two classrooms had a test in excess of the IAL on one test but saw a reduction back below the threshold with the filtration units running.
Project and bond information is at https://mountainview.ossu.org/en-us/bond-project-FAQ
For further information about the bond vote contact OSSU Director of Operations Joe Houston at [email protected] or (802) 472-2934.
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.
