New windows coming to Vernon schools

The Vernon school board approved about $143,000 for a window replacement project by the district’s architect of record, EI Associates, at Glen Meadow Middle School and Vernon Township High School, and to replace the main breaker at the high school.

The school board approved $120,000 for Phases 1-3 of the window replacement project at Vernon Township High School. About $700,000 of the district’s American Rescue Plan ESSER III funds will be used to offset construction costs.

The seals have been broken on the windows for at least three years, school board president Kelly Mitchell said on Jan. 3.

“I’m so excited about these windows,” she said at the Jan. 27 board meeting. “I’ve been carrying on for three years about these windows.”

Most of the window work will be done at the high school’s Freshman Academy and sporadically throughout Glen Meadow.

The work will be done after hours to save money. The district is putting the order in for the windows now because delivery will take additional time because of potential supply chain problems.

The project has to be done by 2024 because the money is coming from the district’s allotment received through the U.S. American Rescue Act.

The district also approved Phases 1-3 for the main breaker replacement at the high school for $23,500.

Mitchell said on Jan. 3 that the issue was identified about a year ago and was part of a larger project that was downsized.

However, she said it needed to be done, and that it will be done in house.

The district on Jan. 3 approved moving $45,000 from the district’s capital reserve account into its architectural/engineering line item to fund Phase I investigations, which will be done by EI Associates, for the high school tennis courts ($14,000), the Glen Meadow Bridge and Balcony ($20,000), and the Glen Meadow music room ($11,000).

“This is the next phase, a further snapshot into these items,” Mitchell said on Jan. 3.