Fixing Fairfield Court Elementary roof to cost more than anticipated

Estimate for roof repair jumps from $140,000 to $378,200.

July 17, 2014; 10:22 AM • by Richard Hayes

In the spring the roof at Fairfield Court Elementary was leaking so badly that school official were forced to shuffle children to the old Clark Springs Elementary School. School officials estimated that repairs to the roof would cost $140,000 and budgeted accordingly. Chief Operations Officer Tommy Kranz was brutally honest in his evaluation of the situation.

From RTD.

In a presentation to the School Board this week, Chief Operations Officer Tommy Kranz, who joined the school system after the estimate was submitted, said the real cost will be $378,200.

“You don’t have to know anything about roofs to know that work would cost more than $140,000,” he told the board. “My 7-year-old grandson could have told you that.”

Because the school system’s maintenance budget is so small and the amount of work to be accomplished so large, Kranz asked the board for permission to shuffle the order of priorities.

He asked for, and was granted permission to, take $162,300 away from work at Thompson Middle School and $75,900 from other smaller projects across the city.

If all goes well and we know how often repairs go smoothly, the classroom roofs should be fixed before school starts and the cafeteria roof by the end of September.

Image: RPS