Plum School District seems poised to replace sections of its high school roof after recent leaks into the building.
“It’s 30 years old, it’s beyond repair, it’s out of warranty,” Superintendent Rick Walsh told school board members at a planning meeting Tuesday.
The emergency repairs, set to be completed by Parks Township-based Strongland Roofing Systems, will cost the district about $250,000.
Plum Director of Facilities and Grounds Shelley Shaffer said the work would focus on three small areas of the roof ahead of a future planned project that would replace larger swaths of the roof.
Shaffer said the leaks affect sensitive areas of the school like the IT room, television production classrooms and the band room, which house electronics or musical instruments, all of which could be damaged or destroyed by water.
For now, she said, the district is using buckets and a drain diverter to mitigate the leaks.
John Zahorchak, the district’s finance and operations director, said Plum was aware of the issues with the roof and had applied for a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development to subsidize repairs.
But the recent leaks have forced the district to act now, he said.
If Plum does receive the grant, Zahorchak said, the district would try to retroactively apply it to the emergency repairs.
“We’re going to have to do it either now or later,” he told school board members. “I think the thought is get this done, get the building secure, mitigate the leaks as quickly as possible.”
Shaffer said repairs are set to begin May 1 and last about three weeks.
Plum School Board will take a final vote to approve the work at its meeting Tuesday, April 21.