Partly to help catch new board members up on district projects, the Franklin school board heard an update from Ryan Fennick of Strongland Roofing Systems on the ongoing roof work in the school district.
Fennick, who along with his brother Sean graduated from the Franklin Area School District and works at the Franklin branch of Strongland Roofing, passed out diagrams to the panel showing several sections of roof at the high school which have already been replaced, as well as some sections in progress and what remains to be done.
Sandycreek Elementary School’s entire roof has already been replaced, as was the roof above the library at Central Elementary, and repair work has been done around the edges of Victory Elementary’s roof where some leaks had been found.
“There were hundreds of leaks,” said district superintendent Eugene Thomas.
The leaks had stemmed from a fault in the previous roofing material, which once it began to fail, could not be fixed long-term. “It would be like putting a band-aid on it,” Fennick said.
Thomas noted that the roofing issue had been experienced by some schools outside the Franklin district as well, which had had the same roofing with the same membrane problem.
To catch the problem before it got worse, the district made the decision to replace the entirety of the high school roof and that of Sandycreek, and repair and replace sections at Victory and Central, where the leakage wasn’t as bad. The new roofing material, 90-millimeter EPDM rubber roofing, is under warranty for 30 years.
Since the old roof had been supposed to last 15 years but had been failing at 10 to 12, Garland Roofing, the company which had installed the district’s previous roofs, had eventually agreed to provide the district millions of dollars for the roof materials which are now being installed by Strongland.
Fennick said that in order to save costs, Strongland has only replaced insulation under the roof when it has been damaged by leaks. Where it is still good, the company is leaving the insulation in place and replacing only the substrate and roof over it.
Strongland will also be inspecting the roof annually, Fennick said, and district building and grounds director Leon Billingsley said infrared roof scans are also being conducted to help detect leaks.
“Our collaboration with Strongland has been great,” Thomas said.
In another matter, district business manager Kimberly Eaton gave the panel some highlights of the 2024-2025 proposed budget for the Venango Technology Center, which will be up for approval by the district next week.
The VTC operating budget is up by about $250,000 compared to last year, Eaton said, going up from about $8.025 million to about $8.275 million. The district’s portion of that cost is going up by about $8,000, she said.
Part of the budget is an increased compensation for the school’s current support staff, since she said the school has been having difficulty hiring.
“And there was a huge healthcare cost increase,” she said. “We felt that too, and we’ll probably feel it again next year.”
Some discussion took place of a $200,000 line item dedicated to starting an early childhood program, which would prepare kids to enter positions like teachers’ aide or care worker for the Childhood Development Center.
School board members Leslie Boyer and Cheryl Ferry both serve on the VTC board, and Boyer said she had voted “no” on the budget because she felt the new program would not bring additional benefit to the children in the area since those types of positions could be attained without specialized education.
Ferry said she had voted “yes” and she believed the program was beneficial, since many places are currently struggling to find teachers and substitute teachers.
In addition to the VTC budget, other items to be voted on by the board next week include a summer school program at the high school in June, several policy updates, and personnel items.
Board president Sabrina Backer noted the summer school will only take place if there is high enough student enrollment.
Thomas said the policy updates are routine, and board member Garrett Lowman asked if policy updates are posted anywhere for the public to view prior to approval.
Eaton said proposed policy changes are posted, prior to approval, on the district website at the very bottom of the school board policy page.
And Thomas passed out certificates of appreciation to all of the board members in honor of Board Appreciation Month, thanking them for their volunteer service on the school board.
