Catholic schools get gym upgrades

Four elementary schools in the Christ the Teacher division will be getting new gym floors, possibly as early as this summer.

At the school board's regular meeting May 13, secretary-treasurer Wilfrid Hotsko informed trustees a facility audit had found the floors at St. Al's, St. Henry's Jr., St. Mary's, St. Paul's and St. Theodore were deficient.

"VCT [vinyl composite tile] flooring in gymnasiums is not recognized as an acceptable sports floor surface according to DIN standards," the auditor's report stated.

The tiles do not have enough give, Hotsko said.

Three other schools, Sacred Heart, St. Henry's Sr. and St. Michael's met the standard with their hardwood floors.

Hotsko told the board that a preliminary estimate indicated four of the floors-St. Theodore was excluded-could be replaced with polyurethane for approximately $113,000.

"We're not looking at hardwood," he said. "For elementary schools, it's a nice-to-have, but it's really the Cadillac and not necessary."

Board member Jerome Niezgoda inquired as to how much more hardwood would cost. Hotsko said it would be at least double.

Also, hardwood requires regular maintenance, whereas poured polyurethane is virtually maintenance-free, he said.

Although new gym floors were not in the 2012-2013 budget, Hotsko recommended that the board approve drawing down on internally restricted maintenance reserve to complete the project.

Other concerns raised by board members included the possibility of off-gassing of the flooring. Hotsko said they would do the installation while school was out, preferably this summer if possible, to avoid problems with fumes.

The board unanimously approved the project giving administration the go ahead to put the installation out for official competition.

Darrell Zaba, director of education, said St. Theodore was not included because there are higher priority maintenance issues at that school.