GFPS considering bids to repair Lincoln roof during March 31 meeting
Great Falls Public Schools officials are hoping to start making Lincoln Elementary School roof repairs by next month.
Luke Diekhans, GFPS’ business operations manager, said during the March 23 board meeting that four qualified roofing contractors visited Lincoln on March 19.
He said all four were providing bids for the roof repairs by March 27 and so the district scheduled a March 31 special board meeting to hopefully accept a bid for the repairs and get students back to Lincoln as soon as possible.
Diekhans told The Electric that the Lincoln roof repair will primarily be covered by insurance, but the district has to a pay a $5,000 deductible out of the general fund.
GFPS relocating some Lincoln students after wind blows off roof
The Lincoln roof is an emergency, unplanned repair, outside of the district’s typical rotation for major school roof work on an annual basis.
About half of Lincoln’s roof was damaged during a March 8 wind storm, causing structural damage, rendering about half the building unusable and school was canceled at Lincoln for March 9-10.
Lincoln Elementary roof damaged by wind, school will not be held there Monday or Tuesday
The school board voted unanimously to approve the emergency closure, under GFPS board policy and state law, during a special meeting. March 9.
Kindergarten through third grade and specialists were able to remain in Lincoln, Lance Boyd, GFPS assistant superintendent told The Electric earlier this month, since those classes are in the northern half of the building, which still has a roof.
GFPS budget committee recommends no levy this year
Other students relocated for now as follows:
- grade 4 will relocate to Lewis and Clark Elementary
- grades 5-6 will relocate to Paris Gibson Education Center
GFPS board approved $1.29 million roof project for Lewis and Clark Elementary
Boyd said that the Lincoln roof will be an insurance claim and on March 9, crews were working to close the two gable ends that were exposed so that air wouldn’t get under and lift other portions of the roof. They also patched hundreds of leaks from the wind pulling off posts and joists.
Yates said in a note to Lincoln parents that when a portion of the roof was torn away, insulation was released in the surrounding area.
Yates said that Lincoln’s roof was last replaced in the mid to late 1990s and the insulation work was done by Klinefelter’s Insulation.
GFPS and GFFR confirmed with the company that the material is cellulose/fiberglass insulation and not asbestos, Yates wrote.
Superintendent Heather Hoyer told The Electric that initially they thought the roof had been replaced in 1998, but determined it was approved in 1995-1996, but staff was checking when the work was actually completed.
She said the new roof was placed over the existing roof at the time, which is mostly still in place, but has some holes because the new roof had been anchored to the old roof, so they’re worried about leaks and it has some cracks.
During the March 9 special GFPS board meeting, Hoyer said, “this is a first for many of us.”
She said that around noon March 8, Yates was contacted by a neighbor near the school that the roof had blown off Lincoln.
He immediately headed to the school and when he arrived, called Hoyer and Boyd.
District officials were in a “state of pretty severe distress,” Hoyer said seeing the condition of the school.
She said district staff had been working with busing, food service, technology, leadership, buildings and grounds, engineers, teachers, GFFR, NorthWestern Energy and more for the previous 24-plus hours.
It looked like a snow storm around Lincoln, she said, with the insulation that had blown around the area as the roof was torn off.
Crews were out on March 9 sucking up the insulation with vacuums, and cleanup was ongoing in and around the Lincoln campus, she said.
GFFR issued partial occupancy for the northern section of the building and staff will continue monitoring the building, but “at this time we feel very safe being able to occupy it,” Hoyer told the school board.
She said that about 15 off-duty GFFR firefighters had helped teachers on March 9 with moving out of their classrooms to their new temporary locations.
Boyd, GFPS assistant superintendent, brought about 40 Good Apple Awards to the March 17 City Commission meeting to thank city employees from GFFR, Great Falls Police Department and public works for their help responding to the roof incident.
