LaSalle schools’ AC woes ease as two replacement projects loom

Most of the air conditioning problems that troubled LaSalle Parish schools during the hottest months have been fixed and two larger cooling projects are coming next, the system’s maintenance supervisor told a LaSalle Parish School Board committee Oct. 13.

Travis Glenn, transportation and maintenance supervisor for the LaSalle Parish School System, updated the board’s Construction Committee before the board’s regular monthly meeting.

“It appears that most of the immediate needs have been addressed, and with cooler weather moving in, the strain on our system has eased a bit,” Glenn said.

Glenn plans to bring proposals in the coming weeks to replace aging air conditioning systems at the Fellowship Elementary School cafeteria and the school board’s media center in Jena, where the board’s meetings are held.

REPAIRS SINCE THE LAST MEETING

Glenn said replacement of a 10-ton air conditioning unit at the Good Pine Middle School gym, approved by the board last month, is underway.

“We expect that to be complete within the next couple of weeks,” he said.

The Jena High School library is cooling again after compressors were replaced in both units serving the building.

“So things are functioning as they should there,” Glenn said.

At Olla Elementary School, a compressor was replaced on the unit serving a kindergarten classroom that had the class relying on hallway air to cool their room.

“Olla is good to go and cooling again,” Glenn said.

Jena High School also had trouble with its chiller system, which Glenn said is “an altogether different system than most of our schools.” Jena High and LaSalle High both use chiller systems.

“This system was struggling to keep up with demand, and one of the chillers, one of the two chillers for the main building, was tripping out every couple of days,” Glenn said. “So we’d have to get a serviceman out to get that going again.”

Crews ultimately flushed the coils on both units to remove years of built-up sediment.

“This was a lengthy process, but I believe we’ve made significant progress there,” Glenn said. “And since then, the chillers at that school have been functioning as they should.”

FIRE ALARM AND HEATING

Glenn said a fire alarm problem at Jena High School has been resolved.

“We were able to locate and install the necessary parts to return that school to ‘green tag status’ with the fire marshal,” he said, but noted a longer-term fix is still needed.

“Bringing the fire alarm system at Jena High School to current standards is something that we’ll need to address in the future, so we’ll be having conversations about that in the days to come,” Glenn said.

He said the maintenance team has been out almost daily handling smaller units across the district, including mini-split and PTAC units, which are the individual wall units common in classrooms.

Schools will switch over to heat within the next month which the supervisor believes will help with issues.

“I anticipate we’ll encounter some issues during this transition, but historically, heating has not presented significant issues,” Glenn said. “So I think we’ll be able to manage that.”

TWO REPLACEMENT PROJECTS AHEAD

Glenn said both upcoming projects involve air conditioning and are “more involved and complex.” “With temperatures cooling down, we’ve got some time to develop a plan and address these,” he said.

The first is the Fellowship Elementary School cafeteria, which lost 75% of its cooling capacity in the first or second week of school. Its HVAC system was installed in 1999.

The system “has provided many, many years of service,” Glenn said. Because a permanent fix could not be done right away, he said, he restored the building to about 50% of its cooling capacity using used equipment.

“The temporary setup has gotten us through the hottest months,” Glenn said. “So now, with cooler weather approaching, we can begin to plan a permanent solution.”

He said he will consult area HVAC contractors, get their recommendations and quotes, and present them to the board.

The second project is the media center. About a month ago, one of the two main air conditioning units serving the building developed a significant refrigerant leak and shut down. Glenn said crews got it running again, but it needs refrigerant added regularly to keep working.

“So I think it’s time to consider a replacement here as well,” Glenn said.

Both units were installed in 2000 and are now 26 years old. “They’ve lived a long life, good service life,” Glenn said.

He recommended replacing both units at once because access to the mechanical room that houses them is limited.

“We’ll pull all of the old equipment out and go back in while the mechanical room is accessible and replace both of those units,” he said.

Glenn said he expects to have quotes within the next couple of weeks to bring to the board for consideration.