Jan 18, 2017 By Cara Host 1 min read

The Bethel Park School Board was preparing at its Jan. 24 meeting to purchase various equipment for the renovation of Benjamin Franklin Elementary School, which is slated to take place this summer.

The board was expected to vote on buying two chillers, two boilers, lights and ballasts, a generator and a transfer switch. The items will be purchased through the state’s cooperative purchasing program.

“Most of them came in at or below what we anticipated, so that’s good,” Superintendent Joseph Pasquerilla said.

The renovation is expected to cost up to $300,000. The district’s maintenance staff will perform some of the work to keep the cost down.

School officials originally planned to upgrade the building’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning system last summer, but during the planning phase, the building’s concrete subfloor was found to be deteriorating. So, the district spent over $800,000 to fix that and postponed the HVAC improvements until summer 2017.

The board is also expected to approve the preliminary budget for 2017-18. It is still too early to determine if any tax increase is needed, and district officials will work on refining the spending plan through the spring.