Emergency Safety Repairs at Middle School Approved

The Board of Education has agreed to spend $119,000 for emergency repairs to 17 lintels at Hillsborough Middle School.

“There is no choice,” Superintendent of Schools Jorden Schiff told the board on Monday. “We need a permanent fix.”

The need for repairs of the load-bearing components to the doors arose this summer when staffers found loose masonry by a door in the original wing of the school.

Further investigation by the school district’s architect, SSP Architectural Group of Hillsborough, revealed flaws in the construction of the lintels when the school was built 40 years ago.

“This is a safety issue,” District Business Administrator Aiman Mahmoud said.

Eight contractors submitted bids for the project ranging up to $649,773. The low bid of $119,000 was awarded to Spartan Construction of Oakhurst.

Money for the repairs will come from the school district’s capital reserve fund, which still contains $1.5 million, Schiff said.

Mahmoud said the project will use updated materials and technology.

But the board also received some good financial news on Monday.

The Phillips Corp. donated between $70,000 to $100,000 in office furniture to the district, Mahmoud said.

The district, besides receiving desks, tables, bookcases and filing cabinets, got 70 chairs suitable for conference rooms, the business administrator said. That allowed the district to replace the chairs in all of the district’s conference rooms, he said.

Replacement chairs would have cost the school district between $800 and $1,200 a piece, he said.

"We are very grateful,” Mahmoud said. “They were very gracious.”