CHAPEL HILL – Some of Chapel Hill-Carrboro’s schools are getting old and in dire need of repair. But, what type of repair is necessary and how will the district pay for it?

“One would be to go in and do some building renovations,” says Assistant Superintendent for Support Services, Todd LoFrese. “The second type of approach would be to look at, perhaps, building some additions. And then a third approach would be to actually look at some of our schools to take down some of the facilities that we think may have exceeded their useful life and then replace those with a new addition or facility.”

Ten of the districts oldest facilities were chosen for the study, including the oldest building, The Lincoln Center, which now houses administrative offices.

The projected costs range from $10 million to $40 million per school depending on the degree of improvements, which LoFrese says also vary from school to school.

“At all of these schools, they need significant interior and exterior physical repairs,” LoFrese says. “Things like our HVAC systems need complete replacement. In many of these schools, we have inefficient lightening systems, plumbing, mechanical systems that need to be replaced. But then on the programmatic side, a lot of our older schools are missing many of the support spaces that we would put into a new school.”

The conversation about how to improve the facilities is just beginning.

Wednesday afternoon, a panel will join Aaron Keck on the Afternoon News to discuss the study’s findings and what the next steps are for the district. Tune in during the 4:00 hour to hear that discussion.

To see the report on the study, click here.

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