As the first day of summer rapidly approaches and people retreat inside their homes to the comfort of air conditioning, Barry Bonner prepares for another long season in the Georgia heat.

Attics, said Bonner with a laugh, on the toughest part of owning Milledgevilles Bonner Heating and Cooling. Attics in the summer are the worst part of it.

While Bonner has spent most of the past 35 summers fixing and installing heat and air conditioning units, often in a part of the house that gives new meaning to the phrase hot air rises, the seasoned technician has slowly built up a reputation as a local source for central heating and air conditioning.

Bonner Heating and Cooling, which he has owned for the last 23 years, was recently named the best Heating and Cooling Repair Business for the fourth year running in The Union-Recorders Readers Choice awards, and the companys attention to the finer points of the heating and air conditioning business have paid off in a big way.

[We do] just service, repair and installation of heating and air conditioning equipment, said Bonner. People like the super high-efficiency units, and people have started calling us saying their power bills have dropped dramatically. Weve started selling two-stage and variable speed systems, which is not a basic system but just a higher-end unit, and it seems like weve gotten a lot busier doing that. We specialize in residential service, repair and installation.

In offering their customers variable speed as opposed to single-stage systems, Bonner is helping usher in a new technology with the potential to change the heating, ventilation and air conditioning industry. Essentially, while single-stage air conditioners have only two settings, one for on and one for off, variable-speed systems come with sensors that can adjust the systems output based on current temperatures inside a house or business. Variable-speed units often run at lower settings and turn on and off less frequently than older single-stage units, which saves energy and improves airflow throughout a building. While the newer systems provide customers with a significant cost-cutting upgrade, Bonner has had to rely on his son, Blake, for some of the systems more technical aspects.

Blake has been working with me since he was in a car seat, said the elder Bonner of his longest-tenured employee. Id have to put him in a car seat and let him go with me because he wouldnt let me leave the house. He diagnosed his first unit when he was 7, and he was braising copper pipes when he was maybe 6 or 7. He knows all the new stuff, and anything with a computer in these new units is so far advanced than it was when I started doing this 30 years ago. He just picks up on all that stuff, and he can fix anything; he really can.

While Blake has worked with his dad in order to one day take the business over from him, the younger Bonner is not the only family member involved in the business. In addition to Blake fixing and installing units out in the field, Barrys wife Lauren handles the businesss official correspondence, including the sizable task of registering each piece of equipment they install.

If you dont register the equipment, it wont have a 10-year warranty, it will only have a five-year warranty, he said.

By most traditional measures for a small business owner, Barry has found success. After 23 years in operation, Bonner Heating and Cooling is a trusted local source for HVAC services, and the seasoned owner even has a ready-made successor-in-waiting. He said his main motivation now is to provide the best possible service for his customers on his own terms, as evidenced by the businesss policy of being on-call seven days a week. As Bonner Heating and Cooling prepares for its 23rd summer of catering to Milledgevilles HVAC needs, the owner offers a few bits of advice for people trying to keep their homes cool for cheap this season.

Its very simple, he said. Change your air filter every month, keep your thermostat on 78, keep as many blinds and shades closed as you can, and make sure you have adequate insulation for your attic.

Bonner Heating and Cooling is on call 7 days a week, and can be reached by phone at 478-452-2684 or by email at bonnerheatingandcooling@hotmail.com. The business services units from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

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Bonner offers 23 years experience, newest HVAC technology - The Union-Recorder

PITTSBURG, Kan. Students at Pittsburg High School will be among the first to benefit from renovations funded by a $31 million bond issue approved by voters in March.

A new heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system is being installed this summer at the high school. It will be completed by the start of school in mid-August.

The renovation work is one of eight projects to be funded by the bond issue. The first phase has a budget of $6.5 million.

Theyre predicting that we should save about $125,000 a year electrically out here, said Destry Brown, superintendent of schools. Were hoping that it comes through. If it doesnt, even if it stayed flat, it will be a lot better environment than what we have now. Either way, were going to be upgrading our educational environment in the district and in this building in particular.''

The original heating and air-conditioning units were installed in 1979. Recent Pittsburg High School graduate Aspen Lloyd said that the roof would often leak, even when it wasnt raining.

It could be completely sunny outside, but because the air conditioning was on, wed have buckets all in the hallways and giant trash cans filled with water from it leaking, Lloyd said. It was rough. I think the school renovations are exciting, and I wish I couldve experienced it.

The new HVAC system is being installed by Trane Building Advantage. Craig Grosser, project manager, said the project includes the replacement of plastic piping with steel pipes, which are more efficient and follow fire code safety standards.Grosser said 79 heat pumps will be replaced by 50 units.

They were having to replace these heat pumps, and a lot of them are 38-year-old units, so theyve been in the process of replacing a few each year, Grosser said. It just got to the point where it was too costly. They stopped doing that about two years ago because they knew they were going to try and do this project.

During the school year, the second phase of the HVAC installation will be completed in the 600-609 hallways of the high school. They will be blocked off for safety. Students will be able to access the 600 hallway classrooms from outside the building. The old lines will be replaced, and all existing light fixtures will be upgraded to LED light bulbs.

The total savings for the heating, cooling and lighting is $185,000 a year, and thats just purely operating the building as they always have its just that the technology has advanced to where we can operate much more efficiently, said Chad Remboldt, strategic programs consultant at Trane.

The school will have electric meters on its two power services to the building, which will be connected into a new control system. The district will have more control over its energy usage, be able to read the usage in real time and control it from a remote location.

Grosser referred to the downstairs boiler room as the heart of the operation. The boiler will be replaced with two smaller units for efficiency. The piping will be redone and replaced, then connected to the main building.

This is where heat is added to the system as its needed, Grosser said. If they need to cool or take heat away from the loop, theres a cooling tower on the south side of the building and a heat exchanger, so that will help take heat off of the system.

Other projects funded by the bond issue include: FEMA-certified safe rooms at the Family Resource Center and all four elementary schools; a weight room, new gymnasium and equipment and locker rooms that will double as a safe room at the middle school; upgrades to the lighting, classroom remodeling, a new band room, scene shop and administrative offices, entryway improvements and a new cafeteria/kitchen that will also serve as a safe room at the high school.

Lakeside was in desperate need of a new cafeteria and storm shelter, so that it is definitely something that Im looking forward to, said Rachel Lenard, library aide at Lakeside Elementary. I think the community is making a good investment with the bond and the safety of having storm shelters at every school.

Stacey Day, mother of two Pittsburg middle school students, said the renovation projects are a good investment in the future of Pittsburg students.

I really think the school renovations are a good idea, and its a big upgrade, Day said. I know that theyre adding a new gymnasium, which will be accessible to handicapped students. I really think its a big bonus to include everybody. Youre investing in your kids, and youre not excluding anybody.

Learning opportunity

Tranes public and private partnership with the school district will provide educational programs for high school students by providinghands-on experience through educational programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The students will be engaged in project-based learning that is both rigorous and relevant and provides awareness into STEM-based careers, said Sara Holmes, educational programs consultant for Trane. Throughout this process with these units, the students are going to get information from the actual building that theyre in data analytics and were going to use the building as living, learning laboratories, so students can get engaged in whats going on around them.

We want to use the investment that the districts made and get the students involved, she said. Theyll be learning about the whole HVAC system.

Originally posted here:
Bond issue funding renovations at Pittsburg High School - Joplin Globe

Stephanie Potterspotter@morningsun.net

PITTSBURG Pittsburg High School is a construction zone this summer.

Four new heating and air units were installed at PHS in March which was the beginning of one of the projects which are part of the $31 million bond issue.

The heating and air project at the high school is a work in progress, the old plastic pipes have been removed and the new metal pipes are prepared for installation.

The stainless steel pipes have more life expectancy, Trane Strategic Programs Consultant Chad Remboldt said. It will distribute water and temperature better than plastic.

USD 250 Superintendent Destry Brown said the renovations will help the district meet new standards for air quality and fire safety.

Electronic meters will allow the school to have real-time readings on energy usage and will help the school pinpoint areas for further improvement.

According to Remboldt, the school could save up to $185,000 a year on energy costs.

They wont have to wait to see how much they used at the end of the month when the bill comes in, Remboldt said.

The school is also adding LED lighting for energy efficiency.

The renovations will not only bring a comfortable environment and energy savings, but will also give students an opportunity to learn about energy use what Educational Programing Consultant Sara Holmes called living learning laboratories.

The students will use the information from the building to watch trending, energy consumption and help with the behavioral, she said. They will learn certain behaviors result in energy savings.

The deadline for this project is August 17, before school starts.

Stephanie Potter is a staff writer at the Morning Sun. She can be emailed at spotter@morningsun.net or follow her on Twitter @PittStephP and Instagram @stephanie_morningsun.

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Renovations underway at PHS - Pittsburg Morning Sun

A little light could mean big bucks for the Sewanhaka Central High School District.

With the installation of solar panels at its five high schools in the final stages, the district is projecting that theywill cut its energy costs by $250,000 each year, according to a news release.

The district has finished installingthe panels at New Hyde Park Memorial High School, Elmont Memorial High School and H. Frank Carey High School in Franklin Square.Floral Park Memorial High School and Sewanhaka High School will have them before the start of the next school year in September, the district said.

The panels are part of a larger project to cut the districts energy costs under an energy savings performance contract, an arrangement in which future savings pay for the necessary hardware and construction. Altogether the work could save the district nearly $950,000 annually, the district says.

The goal of all of these measures was to be environmentally conscious and to save money, Ralph Ferrie, the districtsuperintendent, said in the news release.

Other cost-cuttingprojects includeinstalling new energy-efficient lighting, revamping heating and air-conditioning systems and using other strategies to cut electricity use, according to district documents.

Some of the savings are showing up already. In April 2012, before the workstarted, New Hyde Park Memorial High School racked up an energy bill of $11,319.50, the district said. It was down about $9,100 in April of this yearto $2,203.22.

District officials have said the solar panels will generate 35 percent of that schools energy. Once all the panels are installed, the district says, it will be one of the largest solar energy producers in the state.

Utilizing green power is reducing our electrical costs, James Reddan, a Sewanhaka school board trustee from the New Hyde Park-Garden City Park school district, said in an email. When all 5 high schools are fully functional we should see a dramatic reduction in energy costs.

The district approved the energy performance contract with NORESCO, aMassachusetts-based energy services firm, in May 2015.

Under the agreement, the firm installs the energy-saving equipment in exchange for a portion of the money thats saved as a result. The companyguarantees the district will save a projected amount of money and makes up the difference if thesavings fall short.

A 2014 auditby state Comptroller Thomas DiNapolis office of nine energy performance contracts in eight school districtsquestioned the pacts efficacy.

Seven of the nine projects achieved projected savings, but only six of those saved as much as their contracting firm projected, the audit says. And most of the savings camefrom grants or state money that helped fund them.

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Solar panels to save Sewanhaka $250K each year - The Island Now

NORTHEAST, Wis. (WBAY) - Central air conditioning is a luxury not a necessity. But, after serving their country two local veterans are being treated to new units.

At the home of Adam DeJardin in Bonduel, a fan and a window unit provide some relief from the heat.

According to DeJardin, "It gets pretty warm up there in summertime, last week has been pretty rough."

Jordan Polzin from Green Bay had central air, sort of. He says, "Last year it would work probably, maybe about 60% of the time and this year it was barely working."

But thanks to two different Green Bay heating and cooling companies, that were running separate contests to give a deserving veteran a new AC unit on Flag Day, neither man needs to worry about how they'll keep themselves and their families cool anymore.

"A guy from Brown County Veterans Services called me, told me I was one of the finalists and then Bay Area Services came out and told me I won basically," says DeJardin.

Polzin adds, "I was nominated by Andy Bussiere from the Wisconsin Desert Vets and I was selected."

A crew from Bay Area Services showed up early this morning to begin the installation of Dejardin's new Trane unit.

"It's just great to give back to deserving veterans. We like to help anybody that we can, anytime that we can," says Shannon Beyersdorf from Bay Area Services.

Bay Heating Service along with American Standard had Polzin's old unit out and the new one in before noon.

According to David Drews from Bay Heating, "He does a lot for the veterans in the community and we really wanted to give back to him because he gives back so much."

And while neither man served their country to receive recognition, they're touched by the cool opportunity.

Polzin says, "I'm the second VP of the Wisconsin Desert Vets and we help other people out and me being helped out is, I just didn't expect it."

"It's going to mean a lot, save a lot of money. It's about $3,000 that they're putting in to this for us, so appreciate that a lot," adds DeJardin.

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Two Veterans, Two Companies, Two New AC Units - WBAY

A ductless air conditioner can be the best option for cooling an older home or an addition built without the proper ductwork. Portable and window mounted air conditioners have limits and take up space, but a ductless air conditioner is installed directly on a wall or ceiling and operates as seamlessly as a central air conditioner system.

Retrofitting a home to install central air conditioning can cost thousands of dollars. As you'd expect, a ductless unit is a fraction of that cost. There is no labor involved to run ductwork throughout a home. Instead, a mini-split ductless air conditioner consists of a compressor/condenser that is installed outdoors, but instead of it having a large cooling coil outside, each room is equipped with a small and quiet indoor fan and cooling unit, which is typically installed high on a wall near the ceiling or on the ceiling.

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A small hole is cut through the wall to run the refrigerant lines, condensate drain, power, and control cables to and from the central outdoor unit. Most units are about seven inches deep and can be installed flush into a wall or ceiling.

Gree

A home setup with one of these in units in each room will stay cool throughout the hottest days of summer. Each indoor unit has its own thermostat and can be set to the desired temperature for each room, which is a great advantage over many central air systems. If your kids like to sleep in a toasty room, but you like it cool, everyone is happy with a ductless system.

A remote control is included with a ductless system so there is no reaching up to change any settings on the actual unit, and most come with a variety of settings to maximize energy used and can switch between a fan and air conditioner. Another advantage to a ductless air conditioner is a more effective air filtering system which is located on each unit, instead of one central air filter for a whole system.

Ductless air conditioners are available at your local Home Depot as well as Amazon.

The best single room system come from Pioneer for only $728. If you need to move up to an entire 3 or 4 bedroom home setup, Gree's three-unit system for $2,303 will work well or you can upgrade to Pioneer's four-unit system, starting at $4,195. Gree also builds other unit sizes as well. The one pictured at the top of this post, for example, is part of Gree's $2,000 two-unit system.

But sometimes, the temperature isn't the only thing worth considering. For maximum air movement, this Pioneer ductless AC is rated at 48,000 BTU cooling and 49,500 BTU heating. As bonus, it's also built for a recessed install, making it virtually unnoticeable, but it'll cost you with $3,258 price tag.

Remember: If you need cooling and heating, be sure to look for a ductless air conditioner that includes a heat pump.

Keep cool out there.

Link:
Ductless AC May Be the Best Way to Keep Cool This Summer - Popular Mechanics

June 13, 2017 2:59 PM

This Content Provided By American Vision Windows

Some homeowners will take drastic measures to keep their homes cool. However, it doesnt matter how many fans you set up if all that cold air is leaking out through your windows. Older windows may be poorly insulated, and way too thin to keep the cold in. You may have seen families cover the insides of their windows with big plastic sheets to try and stop the leaks. Other families cover their windows with foil to try and reflect the heat. Others keep their blackout curtains shut all day so that their home is always dark and unwelcoming.

Theres an easier way to keep your home nice and cool this summer. replace your old windows! Technology has come a long way since old, single-pane windows. New energy efficient windows can have everything from triple-pane glass with argon gas insulation to special coatings. High tech coating can filter out 40-70% of the heat that would come through your glassand they still let in the full amount of light.

New windows can also save you money on your bills. The less you have to run your air conditioning to keep your home comfortable, the less you would have to pay! According to the U.S. Department of Energy, New, energy-efficient windows eventually pay for themselves through lower heating and cooling costs. Why continue to let your money leak out of your old windows? Instead, energy efficient windows like vinyl, triple-pane windows can keep your home insulated properly. In fact, replacing single-pane windows with energy efficient windows can save you an average of 2,600 kWh annually. Thats enough energy to watch three straight years of TV.

Many Los Angeles and Orange County residents have already realized that installing new windows can help them save their cold air and their hard-earned money. American Vision Windows, the largest window installation company in California, has already replaced thousands of windows in L.A. and Orange County. The company began over 15 years ago when the owners, Bill and Kathleen, had a terrible window replacement experience. Contractors showed up late or not at all, took months to install the windows, and they even installed the wrong windows. When Bill and Kathleen called the company about the problems, it had already gone out of business and disappeared. After their painful experience, they decided that California needed a decent window installation company and this is how American Vision Windows was born.

Now, American Vision Windows focuses on bringing families what Bill and Kathleen never had: attentive service, happy and experienced employees that care, and top-quality windows. The company has since won several awards for their customer service. They have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, and have won the Angies List Super Service Award five times.

For more information on how to replace your windows and keep your home cool the summer, contact American Vision Windows.

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Trying to Keep Cool This Summer? Take a Look at Your Windows - CBS Los Angeles

VentZone Systems include a heat or energy recovery ventilator and a zone register terminal for each bathroom in the home

Bradenton, FL (PRWEB) June 14, 2017

American Aldes is pleased to announce the newly designed VentZone System, the most advanced and effective home ventilation system on the market today. The system combines zoned bathroom exhaust plus whole-house ventilation with a single heat or energy recovery ventilator. For the homeowner, this means healthy indoor air quality throughout the home with extra boost ventilation in the bathrooms as needed while maximizing energy efficiency.

Traditional systems ventilate a bathroom in one of two ways; individual fans for each bathroom, or an inline bathroom fan connected to all bathrooms. The former is expensive as it requires purchasing, installing, and ducting several fans plus installing a vent in the exterior of the home for each bathroom. The later wastes energy and can over ventilate a home since all bathroom exhaust is either on or off and does not allow the homeowner to operate ventilation in each bathroom independently.

The innovative VentZone System provides centralized, zoned bathroom exhaust plus whole house ventilation with a single heat or energy recovery ventilator. It gives the homeowner the ability to turn on individual bathroom ventilation as needed, yet only requires one ventilator to provide exhaust for all the bathrooms.

As air is removed from the bathrooms through ALDES patented Zone Register Terminals (ZRT), it it passes through an ALDES heat or energy recovery ventilator (also called an air exchanger). As air is being exhausted from the home, fresh air is also being brought in at the same rate. The air exchanger tempers the incoming air using the energy from the outgoing air without the air streams mixing. This provides balanced ventilation, avoids negative pressure on the home, and improves indoor air quality while maximizing energy recovery. The technology built inside the air exchanger does this in the most energy efficient manner possible to avoid losing heating or cooling energy from within the home.

American Aldes VentZone System and Aldes ZRTs are both past recipients of the Innovation Award for Ventilation by the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).

The company has built upon this already-successful system in several ways.

Ventzone kits are available for homes with 2-5 bathrooms. Each kit includes an ERV or HRV, Zone Register Terminals (ZRTs) and controls for each ZRT.

Forward-thinking builders and HVAC installers have recognized the benefits of VentZone System for years, and homeowners appreciate the energy savings year after year, said Tom Heidel, Residential and Ecommerce Business Development Manager at American Aldes. These improvements take the award-winning Aldes VentZone System even further in terms of healthy indoor air quality, energy savings, and ease of installation.

A demonstration video is available at: http://bit.ly/ventzone

About American ALDES American ALDES is the premier manufacturer of ventilation products and systems for homes, multi-family dwellings, hotels, schools and numerous other commercial applications. Products are designed for superior airflow control, energy-efficient performance, and a healthy indoor environment.

American ALDES is a based in Florida and is a subsidiary of the ALDES Group, an international, family owned group of more than 1,300 employees and 17 subsidiaries in 13 countries. More information on VentZone Systems is available at http://www.aldes.us/ventzone-iaq .

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American Aldes Raises the Bar on Home Ventilation with Improved VentZone Systems - PR Web (press release)

Students from all nine of the Hillsborough Township School Districts schools were sent home early this week, as a lack of consistent air conditioning resulted in what officials said were unhealthyconditions.

As the mercury rose to upward of 95 degrees outside, district officials decided to close schools early on Monday and Tuesday, as kids prepare for finals and graduation during the final week before summer break.

According to district officials, all afternoon kindergarten and preschool classes werecanceled and lunches werenot served as a result of the early dismissal.Additionally all after-school activities were canceled, along with after-school care services provided by Catholic Charities.

District Business Administrator Aiman Mahmoud said the decision to close early was made by Superintendent Dr. Jorden Schiff.

As with all early dismissals, the decision was made after consulting with individuals including building principals, district administration, buildings and grounds personnel (and others), he said.

With the school year coming to a close, officials said the district will not be required to make up the lost time.

As a result of the early dismissal this week, students at Hillsborough High School were sent home by noon, Hillsborough Middle School students went home at 12:30 p.m. and Auten Road Intermediate School students left at 1:15 p.m.

Morning kindergarten students at both Amsterdam Elementary School and Triangle Elementary School left at 10:20 a.m. Similarly, morning kindergarten students at Hillsborough Elementary School, SunnymeadElementary School, WoodfernElementary School and Woods RoadElementary School were dismissed at 11 a.m.

The remaining students at Amsterdam and Triangle Elementary Schools left at 11:50 a.m. and the rest of the student body atHillsborough Elementary, Sunnymead, Woodfern and Woods Road were dismissed at 12:30 p.m.

Since the decision to close schools early came at approximately 10:30 a.m. on Monday morning, Mahmoud said parents were alerted to the early dismissal in a number of ways, including the districts SchoolMessenger system, its social media, the educational access channel and a posting on the districts website.

Though there was little notice for parents leading up to that moment, Mahmoud said the district had contingencies in place.

On the first day of school, parents are sent home an emergency dismissal form which they complete and return to their childs school for such instances as today, he said on Monday. The form reminds parents to talk with their children about their emergency plans.

The early dismissal and cooling issues throughout the entire district are a continued problem for officials that dates back as far as last September, when similar conditionscaused parents and officials to raise an uproar over the lack of air conditioning for students.

At that time, schools were not dismissed early and teachers were left to find solutions for their kids, including moving their classrooms into cooler areas of their respective schools.

During a recent Board of Education meeting, Schiffsaid the district was still working out how it can address its air conditioning problem, even after having contracted an AC provider to install three 25-ton units at ARIS and HMS.

Those three units, two at ARIS and one at HMS, are being used to provide cool air to the gymnasiums at those schools. Once cool, teachers have the option to sign up on an excessive heat schedule with school administration to allow for students to cool off throughout the day. Those options were available to classrooms earlier this week.

Cooling stations and schedules are temporary fixes, Hillsborough Education Association President HenryGoodhue said. Its not completely constructive for learning to move, say, a math class there when there are already literacy classes going on there.

Goodhue said the situation proved to be difficult for teachers and staff, as well as the students.

Were still having issues with maintaining climate controls within our buildings, both heating and cooling. We have elementary schools that do not have adequate cooling zones, hesaid. Theyve taken steps to address this at the middle school and Auten Road, and I appreciate their decision with consideration to the staff and students for today and tomorrow, but there is still a lot of work to be done on our infrastructure.

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HILLSBOROUGH: Hot conditions throughout school district force early dismissals - centraljersey.com

Manteca Unified has added the equivalent of almost another elementary school as part of its modernization effort at five campuses. And it was done by honoring two promises to Measure G voters: No new classrooms would be built for growth and the bond money would be spent in a manner that was efficient and maximized every cent. The remodels at Lincoln, Sequoia, Shasta, Lathrop, and Golden West schools yielded 15 additional classroom spaces. This was accomplished in several ways: uThe five new offices that were positioned to enhance campus security allowed the older offices to be remodeled into classrooms. uThanks to Going Digital, computer labs per se were no longer needed so those classrooms were repurposed as general classrooms. uSpace for pull out programs where students leave a classroom setting for more intense help in smaller groups that were adjacent to other such areas where walls could be removed were remodeled into standard classrooms. uOther space that could be converted for pull out programs such as the old boiler room at Lincoln School that was no longer needed thanks to electric heating and cooling roof units were remodeled freeing up other space for general classrooms. When the dust is settled, there will be a net gain of around 15 classrooms at the five schools to support upwards of 450 more students based on a 30 students per classroom ratio. Given that a classroom can cost around $330,000 apiece when they are built in clusters of eight to 10 rooms, the additional classroom space represents a cost avoidance of just under $5 million. The additional classroom capacity is even more cost effective given that 450 more students could ultimately be housed without the need to secure land for a school site, install infrastructure and build support facilities such as a multi-purpose room, cafeteria kitchen, library, office, parking lots, and other typical campus improvements. Deputy Superintendent Clark Burke said staff looked for any area they could come up with 960 square feet the minimum size required by the state for a first through eighth grade classroom and worked it into the remodel plans. The repurposing of other space for classrooms means the five remodels have maximized facilities. At the same time, Manteca Unified Superintendent Jason Messer noted the condition of each portable classroom was re-evaluated. While the district was hopeful to replace all portables with permanent buildings that have a significantly longer life expectancy and lower maintenance costs when the bond measure was cobbled together, portables that could have significant more life squeezed out of them with a minimal investment were retained. It would have been nice to replace all of the portables but it made no sense to do so with the classroom space needs the district is facing, Messer said. All classrooms whether they involved new construction to replace dilapidated portables, remodeling of aging classrooms, or other space that was converted to general classrooms were brought up to current standards. An example is the original classroom wings at Lincoln School. The wiring was all replaced, new cabinets installed, ceilings replaced, new plumbing for rooms with sinks, as well as new flooring. At Lincoln school, original classroom wings had linoleum flooring removed in hallways and the cement given a polished finish. Not only did that increase durability and reduce maintenance costs but it gave the 60-year-old plus building a modern, updated look.

What the district was able to do at Lathrop School Of all the campus modernizations done so far using Measure G funds, perhaps none were as transformative as Lathrop School. Prior to Measure G work the campus front along Fifth Street was a major hazard. There were no curbs, gutters, or sidewalks. Parking and drop off areas were blurred. The office was away from the entrance. Portable buildings were placed in such a manner that securing the campus that is bounded on three sides by streets was difficult at best. Some interior hallways had a dingy, cramped feel to them due to a hodge podge of additions over the years. The $10.4 million Measure G infusion provided Lathrop School with 10 new classrooms to replace the worst portables. The front has been cleaned up with sidewalks, streets, and curbs along with separated parking and drop off zones. There is a new main entrance with wrought iron fencing and gates along with a new office that allows the staff to monitor those who enter during the school day and after hours. The smaller of the original multi-purpose rooms was converted into an expansive library that takes advantage of natural lighting. Drainage and slope issues were addressed on the playground to deal with run-off effectively and to meet current Americans with Disabilities Act requirements. And it was done were care to save massive, sturdy heritage trees. Just like with modernizations at other campuses, there were unique touches that reflect Lathrop School. Given the schools long involvement with student gardens, 10 elevated garden tubs were put in place. Not only are they ADA compliant but each have their own water faucet. The finishing touch was covering the surrounding area with decomposed granite. It means the garden area will be easier to prevent weed growth and for students to work. There is also a separate drop-off area by the multi-purpose room that can be opened and closed with new gates. Clarke noted that once the multipurpose room is painted, the campus will have a cohesive look.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com

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Remodeling produces more classroom space - Manteca Bulletin