SUMNER COUNTY, Tenn. (WTVF) — Sumner County schools are dealing with aging heating and cooling systems, with at least one school already mid-repair and others expected to need major work in the coming years.
The district is replacing HVAC units in the cafeteria at Lakeside Park Elementary at a cost of more than $84,000. While the new system is expected to take several weeks to arrive and be installed, the cafeteria has been too hot for students to eat in.
School board member Wade Evans said the situation at Lakeside Park is urgent but with cooler temperatures coming students can eat in the cafeteria.
"The units at Lakeside are definitely on the older side they need to be completely replaced," Evans said. "I know at one point what they're doing was they were actually eating… and then going to… their classroom and eating."
Lakeside Park Elementary is not the only school with aging infrastructure. Evans said Merrol Hyde Magnet School also needs significant work.
"Merrol Hyde needs a complete HVAC replacement. That's not just taking a unit out and replacing it. We're talking about taking out all the ducts, everything that's in the ceilings," Evans said.
The issues come on top of a major HVAC failure at Beech High School earlier this year.
Evans said he wants the district to get ahead of future failures rather than react to them.
"I'd rather be prepared to address it as it happens or already be taking care of it before it happens. I don't want something to break before we fix it," Evans said.
Superintendent Scott Langford is expected to form a committee to assess HVAC needs across the district. Langford acknowledged the scope of the problem.
"We have a real need to replace a substantial amount of HVAC," Langford said.
Evans said school leaders are already looking ahead.
"We're looking at a couple other schools that we know that it's coming in the next 3 or 4 years," Evans said.
School leaders said they want to address the issues before the next system fails.
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