WOODLAWN - Fire escape doors, air conditioning units, refinishing the basketball court and lighting for the football field were among the facility-related issues addressed by the Woodlawn School Board during its regular monthly Tuesday night.
Superintendent Dr. Kevin Hancock presented the board with a variety of bids to consider, some of which will be paid for with federal COVID relief money while others will be funded through the school budget.
Of the projects brought up Tuesday night, the most pressing was addressing the district's deadline to bring Woodlawn High School in compliance with state code regarding its fire system sprinkler system.
During an annual inspection conducted by the state Fire Marshal's office in June, inspectors found there was not enough water capacity available to support the fire suppression system that (continued from page 1) was in the building. Hancock said the fire marshal's office gave the school district until Aug. 1, 2023, to address the problem.
Working with SSI, the company that installed the school district's security system, Hancock said he was presented with two options to correct the problem: install up to a 500,000 gallon water holding tank or dig three wells on campus at an estimated cost of $700,000 per well.
Hancock said neither option seemed feasible, so he found another option in the Arkansas fire code that negates the need for a fire suppression system if there are fire escape doors in each classroom at grond level.
According to Arkansas Fire Prevention Code 902.2.3 "an automatic sprinkler system is not required in any area below the lowest level of exit discharge serving that area where every classroom throughout the building has at least one exterior exit door at ground level." To meet that criteria, Hancock said the district will need to install 10 fire exit doors in the high school. He said the estimated cost of each door is $1,000. In addition, he said ...
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