Wake school board gets update on HVAC, possible changes after year of more school closures

Wake schools Superintendent Robert Taylor said the district is replacing dozens of heating and air conditioning units and plans a few more possible solutions to the district's school temperature woes.

The district replaced 30 boilers and chillers -- critical for heating and air conditioning -- last school year and is set to replace 35 more next year. Just under half of those projects are at schools that lost a school day in the past two years because of an HVAC issue.

"These things are happening as we speak," Taylor said. What will take longer to implement, he said, are goals to create more HVAC worker positions and to pay workers a wage that's more competitive with the private sector.

Taylor gave an update on the district's heating, ventilation and air conditioning Tuesday to the Wake County Board of Education. The board has been interested in improving the district's HVAC systems and reducing the frequency of early dismissals related to nonfunctioning heating or air conditioning on extreme weather days. The board ran out of time to discuss Taylor's presentation or ask Taylor questions about it but plans to take the issue back up during next month's facilities committee.

Just yesterday, Brassfield and Vance elementary schools -- still in session because of their year-round calendars -- dismissed early becase of a lack of air conditioning as Wake County and beyond experience the summer's first heat wave, with temperatures hitting the high 90s.

The district has struggled recently with more than 60 schools losing at least one day of school in the past two years because of malfunctioning HVAC that made for uncomfortable classroom conditions.

That's in part because of deferred maintenance -- particularly preventative maintenance -- on HVAC systems that recently totaled more than $200 million.

The hiring of a full-time recruiter in the maintenance department has recently helped the system fill some of its long-lingering HVAC positions, but Taylor and other system leaders told county commissioners last month that the district doesn't have enough funded HVAC technicians in the first place.

Taylor gave the same presentation to the school board Tuesday.

Taylor noted that the district has increased the number of school buildings without much of an increase in staffing to help maintain them. A decade ago, Taylor said, the district had the equivalent of 280 10-month employees in maintenance, including HVAC, covering 22.3 million square feet. But now the district has 27.5 million square feet -- a 23.3% increase -- and just the equivalent of 290 10-month employees, or a 3.6% increase. Next year, the district is adding more than a million new square feet when four new schools open but is not adding any maintenance employees.

Without more of its own dedicated staff, the district relies more on contractors that might not be able to respond as quickly.

Falling behind on staffing has forced the district into more of a "reactionary mode" when it comes to facilities, rather than better maintaining them before they break down, Taylor told county commissioners during the May 22 meeting.

"The longer we choose not to do something, the worse it gets," Taylor said.

District data shows about 52% of all HVAC work orders are "emergency" or "urgent," rather than preventative in nature. In other words, the district spends more time responding to problems than preventing them.

Other facility work orders are mostly preventative maintenance, to the tune of about 80%. Taylor said that's in part because HVAC problems are nearly always classified as "emergency" or "urgent," compared to other facility problems.

Taylor also said he believes schools are more proactively dismissing school when HVAC isn't working, rather than riding out the extreme hot or cold conditions.

"Every place I've ever been we never closed schools because something was not working," Taylor told the school board.

But Taylor said that's a change that can be traced back to 2023, when the district created a system for deciding whether to dismiss early. That was borne partly out of the district's middling HVAC infrastructure and community frustration with uncomfortable school temperatures, he said.

The district currently has a six-step process for deciding whether to dismiss early that relies heavily on whether the dismissal can be logistically pulled off, on top of concerns for learning or safety. A decision must be made by 11:30 a.m. for middle and high schools and 12 p.m. for elementary schools.

Taylor also said the district has prioritized higher pay for employees over facilities costs, giving rapidly rising costs of living and some high vacancy rates in critical positions, such a bus drivers.

"When we've had a choice of do we pay teachers and have quality programs in schools versus deferred maintenance, we've made the former and not the latter," he told commissioners.

But Taylor floated some ideas for solutions, including prioritizing HVAC maintenance over other maintenance. He has also repeatedly called for cutting out some technology costs, such as district-issued laptops for the district's youngest children, to make a dent in facilities funding. He also said the district is looking at cutting out "duplicative" services and may explore whether to stop certain activities to further save money.

The district is also looking into creating teams of maintenance workers that serve a given set of schools, ensuring the same people are going to the same schools and visiting them regularly.

Taylor is considering more changes, too, but will need help to do it. He wants to increase HVAC staffing but without necessarily asking for more funding. The district is also working on a contract to study employee pay, which would identify how much more HVAC workers -- and other employees -- would need to be paid to help the district in hiring. Many HVAC positons start out paying just more than $30,000 and top out just below $50,000, once an employee has 32 years of experience.