School Board Accepts Walter Johnson Modernization, But HVAC Problems Remain

Montgomery County Board of Education members formally accepted the modernization of Monday evening, but not without the caveat that issues remain with the school’s HVAC system.

The school at the beginning of the school year last fall after the longest public school renovation project in the county. The modernization, during which students and staff remained on campus, took about a decade to complete. It was “probably the most complex project we ever put together,” schools superintendent Jerry Weast said at the board’s Monday meeting.

A formal acceptance of a school modernization means board members essentially “tie a bow” on the project, according to schools spokesman Dana Tofig. “Anytime we do a project, essentially the board members look at the project and make sure everything is done the way we wanted, the way we expected it to be done.”

But members of the Walter Johnson community testified before the board that HVAC problems still exist. One speaker likened it to “having a new car that stalls on the side of the road because of a defect.”

The HVAC system remains inconsistent in certain parts of the school, according to Walter Johnson principal Christopher Garran. “It’s created some concerns in making sure that we have what we need having functioning heat in cold months and functioning air in hot months, and right now on a consistent basis, we don’t have that,” Garran said. “The school system has been great in working on it and so it’s not that they’ve been ignoring it – actually the opposite – but as a community we still felt an obligation to let the board know on acceptance of this project that there are still significant issues being addressed.”

Some of the problems stem from the complex nature of the lengthy modernization. Some of the HVAC equipment hasn’t been updated, some was updated at the beginning of the modernization, and some was updated towards the end of the project. “Trying to put all those pieces together into one functioning system has presented itself as a challenge,” Garran said.

Additional work is planned over spring and summer months. The division of construction will report back to the Board of Education with an update in September.