New boiler could warm 40° classrooms
Staff writer
Last week, as temperatures around the county plummeted, Marion High School principal Donald Raymer compared the temperature in the Hill School to that of a refrigerator.
Raymer visited the building when outdoor temperatures were below zero last Tuesday.
“I went in at 6:50 a.m.,” Raymer said. “Our rooms in the hill building were all in the low 40s.”
Classes were moved out of the building for the first half of last week because of chilly rooms even though Raymer went to the building each morning to turn on six portable heaters spread across its four classrooms.
The heaters ran all day just to keep the rooms above 50 degrees.
If the heaters hadn’t been switched on, Raymer said, pipes in the building might have frozen.
“I think the little bit we had over there helped prevent more major damages,” he said.
Moving classes created an organizational kerfuffle for faculty.
“Teachers didn’t have access to all their materials, or they tried to grab what they needed and come over to the main building,” Raymer said.
In the main building, the heating system works better, though Raymer noted that some classrooms on the northwest side can drop into the low 60-degree range.
More portable heaters are used in those rooms to keep students and faculty warm.
The boiler system in both buildings was installed in 1991 and replaced in 2020 by a heat pump.
The heat pump, installed by DCS Services out of Wichita, was meant to modernize and consolidate heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, but it has had significant problems keeping buildings warm on the coldest days of the year.
Classes in the hill building resumed Thursday after the temperature went up.
“As long as the temperature is over about 20 degrees, our system over there is able to keep up,” Raymer said.
Only five years after heat pumps were installed in the high school, the school board has decided enough is enough.
Superintendent Justin Wasmuth is receiving bids for a boiler system that will augment the heat pumps on cold days.
Wasmuth has received one bid, and another company has since toured the building.
Asked whether he regrets installing the heat pump system, Wasmuth pointed out he wasn’t superintendent at the time.
“I think you kind of regret when those days happen,” he said.
Wasmuth declined to say how much a new boiler system might cost.
“I’d like to wait until we get that other bid,” he said. “New boilers are pricey.”
In addition to the boilers, Raymer and Wasmuth have contracted with a company to put spray-foam insulation in the hill building.
Work is scheduled to begin today, which means classes will again be moved out of the building for a few days.
The hill building’s insulation was pulled out in 2018 because of a bat infestation, Wasmuth said.
The school board spoke about getting insulation in the building a few years ago but balked at the $55,000 price tag, Raymer said.
While neither Raymer nor Wasmuth could provide an exact figure for insulation, Raymer said it would be significantly less than $55,000.
“We believe it’s a good deal,” Wasmuth added.
Despite the cold, attendance was good last week, Raymer said, praising the school’s spirit in the face of the weather.
“I will give our kids and our teachers a lot of credit,” he said. “They’re pretty resilient; they come prepared. … Kids will wear sweatshirts and coats and stocking caps and all that. And our kids are fairly used to it anyway because when they go from class to class they go outside.”
He will be very happy to see the heating system finally addressed.
“To address it now, after the major cold, is important and significant,” he said. “We’re not just going to keep passing it on ‘till the next and the next year.”