The Oregon-Davis School Corporation is working to identify a few items in their buildings that will require future replacement.
Following last Monday’s school board meeting, members toured the school corporation to discuss what should be included in a future “Strategic Plan.” The goal is to estimate the cost of replacing items essential to operating the schools, and estimating their lifespan.
Oregon-Davis Superintendent Don Harman says developing which projects will be a priority is also intended.
“What we walked away from was looking at our whole facilities, and just looking at a ballpark as far as: what’s the lifespan of our chillers, or our roof?” says Harman. “What are those things we’re going to need to address in the next year, three years, five years, 10 years down the road?”
Oregon-Davis has, in the past, had a general idea of what needs to be replaced, but Harman said not all school board members may be aware of those plans. Last week’s tour offered an opportunity for the school board to familiarize itself with the campus and begin thinking about possible solutions.
Harman likened the process to a property owner taking stock of the items that will need to be replaced in their personal home.
“In your home, if you know your air conditioning unit costs $10,000 and the air conditioner company tells you ‘hey, in the next five years, it’s going.” says Harman. “Well you can’t wait five years down the road and when it goes out, well ‘I’ll just put it on the credit card.’ Well school districts can’t just whip out a credit card and put it on the credit card.”
The “Strategic Plan” is still months away from completion. Harman says a work session will likely be scheduled in mid-winter where plans should be close to finalization.
Once those priorities are set, Oregon-Davis will be able to share the “Strategic Plan” with the public.
