By Andrew Martins, Managing Editor
Weeks after students and teachers in Hillsborough were left to brave frigid temperatures in their classrooms, district officials announced during a recent meeting that they were certain most of the issues have been resolved., During the most recent Hillsborough Board of Education meeting on Jan. 30, Superintendent Dr. Jorden Schiff had the district’s interim Buildings and Grounds Director Patrick Gallagher provide a quick update on the temperature issues., “We had a long weekend. We attacked the temperature issues pretty hard and I’m happy to say that we’ve gotten through…with very minimal temperature issues,” he said., Mr. Gallagher is an employee of the Aramark Corporation, which oversees the management of the school district’s buildings and grounds department., Since as early as 2011, the school district has been outsourcing the management of its building and grounds department to Aramark Corp. to provide “custodial, grounds and plant operations and maintenance management services.”, According to the most recent contract agreement, which was approved last May, the district is paying $337,699 to Aramark for those services, with an additional $80,250 for paper supplies. The contract will come up for renewal on June 30, when the district will have an option for two additional one-year extensions., Throughout the day on Jan. 9, classrooms in eight of the district’s nine schools were well below workplace temperature recommendations set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, causing teachers and students to endure the day with winter coats and gloves. Only Amsterdam Elementary School had consistent heat., According to OSHA, workplaces should strive to maintain an average temperature between 68 and 76 degrees Fahrenheit., That being said, one teacher told the board that classrooms at Auten Road Intermediate School were consistently below 60 degrees. In at least two classrooms radiators burst due to the cold, causing students to relocate to another room in the building., According to Dr. Schiff, the proper heat levels when school buildings are not occupied is approximately 62 degrees. When class is in session, the district aims at keeping its buildings close to 69 degrees., In the immediate aftermath of that day, Karen Cutler, a spokesperson for Aramark Corporations, blamed mechanical problems for the cold indoor temperatures., “Multiple mechanical system issues, compounded by the recent frigid temperatures, caused the boiler to shut down,” she said. “Our teams worked around the clock and quickly restored heat to the building.”, According to officials, the district uses a heating and cooling system that reads thermostats in all classrooms in all buildings. One conclusion that may explain the issue on Monday was that those units may not be working properly., District Business Administrator Aiman Mahmoud said the mechanical issues are now on the district’s radar, citing a need for future action by the board., “I do believe the board is going to be addressing some of the mechanical issues,” Mr. Mahmoud said. “In the future, we’re going to have to address how we’re going to handle some of that, including some of the preventive maintenance issues that have arisen as well.”, Mr. Gallagher said the preventive maintenance issue has already been on the docket, having already put “those protocols onto the calendar so they can’t be missed in the future.”, “Significant progress has been made in rectifying mechanical issues,” Mr. Mahmoud said. “We continue to work with our professionals to create sustainable protocols to maintain appropriate room temperatures in all of our buildings.”, In the weeks following the temperature issue, Mr. Gallagher said the district had been working with Aramark to “bring additional resources to the table.”, “I think we’re over the hump and we’re in a good place now,” Mr. Gallagher said. “We’ve figured out what some of the challenges were and I think we’re reaping some of the benefits of that temperature control program being rectified.”
