The District 233 School Board has approved several major improvement projects for the Homewood-Flossmoor High School North Building.
The board, at its December meeting, approved the transfer of $3.5 million from the Transportation Fund to the Operations and Maintenance Fund for this work. The dollars will be allocated to the Capital Projects Fund to cover the work to be done over the summer months.
One major project is replacing the original windows in the North Building, which was built in 1972. When it rains, the windows leak.
The building also will get a new elevator. The current elevator has been having maintenance issues, said Operations Manager Tom Wagner. Air conditioning will be installed to improve ventilation in the North Building gym, a facility separate from the field house.
In addition, the South Building cafeteria will be reroofed. The Mall Auditorium also is on schedule for a new roof, but that maintenance project is on hold, according to Superintendent Von Mansfield. The auditorium space may be reworked when the board approves a Fine Arts addition this year.
Mansfield told Finance Committee members in November that construction costs were rising, due in part to the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.
Wagner has a running list of maintenance projects that he presents each year, outside of routine maintenance to the two buildings. In summer 2018, H-F made major improvements to the natatorium area that included re-grouting of the swimming pool area, improvements to the exhaust and lighting systems, building new storage space and a classroom and installing a new sound system.
In other business, the board approved a $47,000 contract with Alliant/Mesirow Insurance Services Inc. The contract extends from Jan. 1 through Dec. 1, 2019. It is estimated the district has saved $700,000 in costs for medical insurance since it began using Alliant/Mesirow services four years ago.
The district is self-insured and pays approximately $4 million annually for employee medical through Blue Cross/Blue Shield and dental, vision and pharmaceutical insurance coverage.