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MARTINS FERRY -- The Martins Ferry City School District is coping with a lack of air conditioning as the school year gets underway, with classes already canceled once due to high outdoor temperatures.
The district utilized a calamity day to cover the time.
On Tuesday, Superintendent Jim Fogle reported the air conditioning has been out since August, but he does not expect the district to miss more school days.
"The extended forecast for the next two weeks, the temperature is going to be in the 70s, so we're going to be in good shape," he said. "Mother Nature's being quite nice to us."
Fogle said there is no timetable for repairs, but he anticipates a possible solution by the end of September.
"It's still waiting on a part. There's nothing to work on. It's on back order," he said. "When that one piece comes on, hopefully once they install it then the AC will be back to 100 percent operation."
The district does not intend to take the chance of seeking the part on eBay or similar online outlets.
Fogle added that the air conditioning system is as old as the district campus — about 15 years. During a previous meeting, the board considered possible breakdowns of the aging heating, ventilation and air conditioning system as one event to plan for, along with the concern of further shifting of the floors. The foundation under the school buildings was the subject of a lengthy project through the summer of 2022 and into the 2022-23 school year with the goal of addressing a problem of floor upheaval.
In other matters, Fogle reported on the mileage of the bus fleet. He said the buses travel about 834 routine miles per day, transporting students to and from school. Additional trips to extracurricular activities for August totaled an extra 1,469 miles.
There are 15 buses in the fleet, with the oldest being three buses from 2008, 2009 and 2010 that are used as spares. Three newer buses were already received in 2023.
"We have another 2023 on its way. We're supposed to receive it in November," Fogle said. "We always try to add one into the budget per year, but we got lucky with a grant this past year and were able to purchase four buses for the price of two."
The newest three buses have mileage of 20,013, 8,533 and 10,156 miles. Most of the older buses have traveled between 100,000 and 200,000 miles.
Board member Jon Nagel asked if a breakdown of maintenance costs could be provided for each bus to give a better analysis of when a given bus should be replaced.