School Board Backs Using Kindergarten Surplus for AC

The climate in Golden Brook School's new kindergarten wing is about to get a lot more comfortable during the summer months.

The Windham School Board voted 5-0 Tuesday to approve using $115,000 of surplus funds on the kindergarten project for the installation of air conditioning.

The total surplus for the project was $132,633.02, meaning that a $17,633.02 remaining balance will be returned.

During the meeting, SAU 28 Business Administrator Adam Steel said that the roof, structure and HVAC system were prepared to receive air conditioning during the construction.

The kindergarten project was originally budgeted at $2,900,000, but that budget was reduced to $2,522.191 by the vote of Windham residents during a special meeting in October 2011.

Steel confirmed that the air conditioning will only serve the kindergarten wing and that the price for the air conditioning was competitive.

He also said that savings in the project that caused the surplus came partly because bids came in lower than expected. Some wiggle room was also left in the numbers due to the "owner's contingency," or money reserved to make sure everything in the project goes according to plan.

Chairman Mike Joanis praised the handling of the project.

"From my perspective, this is a perfect way to budget and handle a project such as this," he said. "Really this is the whole intention. What we're doing right now is the way it kind of works."

The air conditioning will benefit programming for the town's special needs population along with summer enrichment activities.