Lehighton Area Elementary Center facade issues sparked the district to seek an initial proposal for assessing the damage, Superintendent Jason Moser said Monday night.

Board members, during the workshop session, also discussed the possibility of a broader Request for Proposals process to “ensure transparency and thoroughness.”

The structural issues, which have been under observation for some time according to Moser, require an evaluation to determine both the cause and appropriate remediation.

“We do have an initial proposal from one firm, and they’ve given us an hourly rate for an assessment,” Moser said. “At the end of that assessment, they would give us an estimate for how much it will cost to actually remediate.”

However, he also informed the board that he had scheduled a meeting with another company to explore additional options.

Directors discussed the merits of expanding the search to other firms by issuing a formal RFP.

“I think maybe we should do an RFP and ask for both of those items: a remediation plan as well as a report as to the cause of this issue,” Board President Joy Beers said.

Determining the Cause

A major focus of the board’s discussion Monday was the need to fully understand the root cause of the facade issues before moving forward with repairs. Moser highlighted the importance of having an independent, third-party assessment, particularly to ensure there are no conflicts of interest with parties involved in the original construction.

“At the end of the day, I think it’s very important to understand what went wrong,” Moser said. “We probably want to be cautious about using people who were involved in doing it the first time.”

The school was constructed in 2018 and combined four previous elementary schools; Shull-David, Franklin, Mahoning and East Penn.

“We need an independent report so that we can try to recoup costs,” Moser said. “There has been a lot of communication with the original companies involved, and what happens in these cases is they point the fingers at each other, and nobody takes responsibility.”

Director Duane Dellecker said he was “frustrated” as a taxpayer at the time the elementary center was built.

“That monstrosity was rammed through without a whole lot of consideration to the taxpayer of the community,” Dellecker said. “If I would have been on the board then, it would have never been built. I’ve seen the inspection reports and there were a lot of things that went wrong during construction.”

Exploring long-term solutions

Monday’s conversation also touched on Lehighton’s need for a comprehensive, long-term facilities maintenance plan to help the district better manage infrastructure needs and avoid future costly repairs. Moser touted the benefits of having such a plan, both for budgeting and for addressing issues before they become major problems.

“One of the things we need to seriously think about in Lehighton, given the fact that there is no new construction on the horizon, is having a long-term facilities maintenance plan,” Moser said.

He elaborated on the risks of deferring maintenance and the potential savings that could come from proactive planning.

“What happens is you defer costs, and then it costs 10 times more than what it would have if you would have taken care of it when it was due to be taken care of,” Moser explained.

The proposed maintenance plan would involve evaluating all district buildings, from foundations to roofs, and developing a timeline for necessary upgrades or repairs. Such a plan, he said, would also provide the district with a clearer picture of upcoming expenses, allowing it to set aside funds in advance.

“If you know hypothetically that a boiler is 35 years old and 10 years past its prime, you can plan for its replacement and probably could have saved on energy over those 10 years instead of dumping money into it,” Moser said.

Next steps

Moser indicated that he plans to meet with additional firms and could also invite vendors to present their proposals publicly on the facade issue.

“We could potentially, within the next couple of months, ask a few vendors who have a product available to come in and actually present publicly,” he said. “I think that’s important so the board and community can see what’s being offered and get an idea of the costs.”