By Dedra Cordle
Staff Writer
The ventilation systems in the buildings of the South-Western City Schools District was discussed at the latest board of education meeting.
During an annual presentation regarding property service updates on Aug. 24, board member Anthony Caldwell asked supervisor Mark Meadows which, if any, upgrades have been made to the ventilation systems throughout the district to combat the spread of a novel coronavirus.
“One of the things we hear about this virus is that it spreads through the air,” he said. “I am wondering what changes we are considering for the ventilation in our schools or what we’re doing to try to find UV filters or whatever to make sure that our air is cleared as it’s going through our systems.”
Meadows said that district officials have done a thorough inspection of the system in place at each school and have been making modifications when needed.
“We’re going through all the buildings to make sure our MERV rating filters is as high as it can possibly be for every system that we maintain,” he said, referring to the Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value, which is a system used to evaluate the efficiency of an air filter based on how effective it is at catching particles of varying sizes.
He said those filters that did not meet the high rating standards would be replaced with those that did. Additionally, he said the district is looking into pre-filtering specific areas to add further layers of protection.
“We have been making sure we have the best filtration we possibly can have with the systems we have in place.”
A variety of other projects have also been taking place throughout the summer. According to Meadows, there were major repairs and improvements completed at East Franklin Elementary School. They include a new HVAC system, new plumbing and fixtures throughout the building and repaving to the parking lot and driveways.
Darby Woods Elementary School and the Kingston Building also received major upgrades to its HVAC system. The latter was a collaborative effort between the district and the city of Grove City.
Additional improvements throughout the district included a roof replacement at the South-Western Preschool Center, and asphalt repairs at Grove City High School, Galloway Ridge Intermediate and the Stiles Family Center.
Stiles Elementary also received improvements to its playground, as did Prairie Lincoln and Prairie Norton. Not all projects were completed however, said Meadows, as there were material shipping delays due to COVID-19.
In other news, Carl Metzger, the assistant superintendent of personnel, gave a staffing report for the start of the 2020-21 school year. According to Metzger, there are 2,800 certificated and classified employees in the district (1,754 certificated and 1,046 classified) and the Virtual Learning Academy will be staffed by 60 educators from the district and seven from the Jefferson County Educational Service Center. Sandra Nekoloff, the district’s director of communications, estimated that roughly 2,700 students signed up to participate in the VLA.
