Alma school referendum seeks $3M for building, tech upgrades

The Alma School Board has authorized a $3 million bond referendum asking school district voters for permission to borrow money for school building and education technology improvements.

A referendum on the spring election ballot April 7 seeks money to install a geothermal heating and cooling system, as well as upgrades and replacements of electrical works, lighting and windows.

Money also would go for building and grounds repairs and upgrades, replacement of transportation vehicles and new technology equipment.

The school district has spent more than a year studying building energy costs and upgrades that could be made to lower expenses. A steam boiler heating system that burns fuel oil is operating at only 60 percent efficiency, according to studies. The schools heating plant system was installed 62 years ago. The most recent work on the system was done over 20 years ago.

The school board said the early 1950s boiler system was obsolete and useless in ability to apply modern automated controls for timed and building zone heating. A new heating system controlled by a computer software program could be used to control temperatures in rooms throughout the building when in use or vacant.

The school board has recommended installing a geothermal system boiler hot water heating to lower heating costs that have shot up from $24,000 to $122,000 a year since around 2000.

The school has single-pane, metal-framed windows in the high school that were installed in the 1950s and 60s. Elementary school windows were replaced with thermal-paned aluminum framed windows in the 80s.

Referendum technology improvements would include upgrading and expansion of computers used for learning by students.

The school board said technology updates were limited over the past six years because of budget constraints. The school has now fallen behind in utilizing technology for educating children, studies found.

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Alma school referendum seeks $3M for building, tech upgrades