A 'Wish List' of Baldwin-Whitehall Infrastructure Upgrades

William D. McKain, the 's assistant to the superintendent for finance and operations, presented a number of suggested upgrades in district infrastructure to the B-W School Board at a meeting on Wednesday night.

The upgrades are a part of the district's five-year capital improvement plan (CIP), which would affect future district operating budgets, including the 2012-13 school year's. The school board must decide on that year's budget by June 30, this year.

Even if the board were to approve the CIP as presented by McKain, each particular item therein would need to be approved before any district money could be spend on it.

Board member Kevin J. Fischer said that the CIP items are, essentially, a "wish list" for the district and that costs and timetables associated with them are estimates and merely suggestions at this point.

Nevertheless, some of the items in Baldwin-Whitehall's proposed five-year CIP include:

• A security booth replacement at
• A number of boiler replacements, including ones at , and
• Relocation of a storage area at the stadium to allow for an additional locker room
• New gymnasium bleachers and an auditorium ceiling in J.E. Harrison Middle
• Athletics field enhancements at and Whitehall elementary schools
• New classroom support furniture in , McAnnulty and Whitehall elementary schools
• Exterior façade repairs at W.R. Paynter Elementary
• New basketball backboards and rims in Whitehall gymnasium
• A concrete curbing replacement project at the district's elementary schools
• District-wide electricity efficiency upgrades
• New floor buffers district-wide
• Two new 72-passenger buses
• A number of new mini-buses and a van
• A new dump truck

"Capital improvement planning is an important management tool that shows allocations and projected expenditures for capital projects and equipment over the next five years," McKain said.

Exact costs associated with the district's CIP items are not yet available. The school board will vote on May 9 whether or not to approve its 2012-13 budget for public display.

Check back with the Baldwin-Whitehall Patch later on Thursday for more odds and ends from Wednesday night's school board meeting.

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