Extensive construction at DV will continue over four years

By Anya Tikka
DINGMAN TOWNSHIP — Extensive construction will continue at the Delaware Valley School District’s Milford campus for the next four years, according to the architect in charge of the project.
The budget for the whole four-year plan is $5.8 million, with expenditures for 2017 estimated at around $1.4 million.
Don Flynn of BDA Architects presented the school board with an updated District Facility Study, which he said was the third and most extensive so far. The first study was done in 2005, he said.
He explained how it came together.
“We met with DV, addressing their concerns,” he said, which produced a laundry list of items.
Flynn said the numbers on the report are not exact (see sidebar), but that costs have been cut to almost half since plans for the project began.
“We looked at each building over four years," he continued.
Air conditioning: Superintendent John Bell, responding to a question from board member Brian Carso, said the old air conditioning units have a life of about 10 or 11 years, with at least 15 years expected of the new system.
Some board members asked who would be contracted to do the work.
“I’ll give you a chance to look at all numbers, and then I’ll come back," he told them.
Timeline: The report also gives a timeline for each component.
At the high school, the air conditioning system will probably not be up and running in time for summer. The turf upgrade will be completed by the end of July or August, with the rest of the work to come later, in 2018 and 2019.
Technology and security: Finance Committee chair Jack Fisher asked about technology upgrades, with a focus on security cameras.
Chris Lordi, the administrative services director, said the security cameras used now are analogue and do not include a zoom feature. The new system will allow wide angles and high pixilation, he said, and cameras will be able to zoom in on material already recorded. A new software package will come with the new system, which offers access from any computer, at any location, he said.
Fisher asked about installing district-wide wi-fi, saying it’s much cheaper and better in power outages. At the moment, the system is hard-wired.
But Bell said a hard-wired system offers better security.
“We have a protected network," Bell said. "That’s what we want. People hack into it — people who want to harm the school. That’s why it’s hard-wired.”
Fisher said encrypted wi-fi could take care of that problem.
Board member Chuck Pike asked if the system could be accessed from home.
Lordi said no.
"You’ll have to be on the district internet connection," Lordi said. "You cannot access it from home, although our police can access it from their phones. We could give somebody access, but it’s not set up currently.”
To protect security, the district's policy is not to allow others to access the system.
“We could open it up — but is that good?" said Gina Vives, the technology director.
Pike explained his reasoning.
“It’s a $400,000 investment for security system," he said. "Four months from now, you won’t want to sit here and say you can’t see it.”
Bell and Vives emphasized the danger of hacking, and said the school always has a separate network for administrators.
The board's vice president, Jack O’Leary, said the board can discuss the security system further at an upcoming work session, when the installer can come and explain the details. The vote could be put off until Jan. 12, he said.
“I don’t want to vote now," he said. "We need to hash it out. It’s important."
Lordi said the high school and middle school have more 100 cameras. No new cameras are planned, he said, just replacements.
Regarding security and privacy, he said, “There is third party software that you can use to block out the background. You can use it forever. We’re working on that.”
The board will vote on the numbers at their Jan. 12 and 19 meetings.