Major upgrade planned at Tulip Grove Elementary School

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Major upgrade planned at Tulip Grove Elementary School

New heating and air-conditioning system to be installed

by Andrea Noble | Staff Writer

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Tulip Grove Elementary School will be getting a brand new boiler and heating and air-conditioning system by the time the new school year begins in August.

The Prince George’s County Public Schools plans to spend $1.3 million in upgrades at the Bowie school that would also include the installation of new lights and fixtures and a new plumbing system by the fall.

Work is expected to begin June 16, Principal Brian Baudoin said.

Baudoin said the current heating and air-conditioning system and the boiler — which are 44 years old and original to the school — were well maintained and had not been malfunctioning. But he welcomed the decision to replace them before they become inefficient.

‘‘We just received an award from the state of Maryland for how well maintained the building is,” Baudoin said.

He described the decision to do the upgrades as proactive.

‘‘[The boiler] is actually working fine,” he said.

A study conducted in September by Pasadena, Calif.-based Parson’s Corp. found that the 44-year-old school’s aging equipment needed to be replaced, said county schools spokesman John White. Replacement of the boiler⁄HVAC will be the most costly expense at $750,000, followed by $449,000 for an energy management system, $118,000 for new lighting and $23,000 for new plumbing.

The energy management system will allow the school district’s maintenance department to remotely monitor the heating and cooling system without having to dispatch maintenance employees to the school to do so, White said.

The study analyzed 184 aging school system facilities, including schools and administration buildings, and found that while they were generally well kept, they needed $2.8 billion in repairs.

White said County Executive Jack B. Johnson allotted $126 million in fiscal 2009 to upgrade boiler systems and replace roofing at 129 school system facilities.

‘‘The school on the outside looks very nice and seems to be OK,” said parent Joni Graham, who has a daughter in third grade and a son in fifth grade. ‘‘It seems to be the hidden things [that need repair].”

In the meantime, parents and students have been working to make their school aesthetically pleasing.

Last fall parents landscaped around the school and each of the school’s 255 students planted a tulip in front of the building, said PTA President Carmie Naleski.

Graham and Christine Anderson, another parent, also redecorated the teacher’s lounge, where teachers relax in between breaks.

E-mail Andrea Noble at anoble@gazette.net.