FAYETTEVILLE -- The amount of sun pouring in some classrooms at Fayetteville High School has prompted one School Board member to question the need for blinds.
At A Glance
Construction Update
The renovation of Fayetteville High School is about 70 percent complete, based on the amount of money spent so far on Phase II, said Phil Jones, project executive for construction manager, Nabholz Construction Services. Work in the original part of the high school built in 1950 will be finished by August, Jones said. The final part of the project in the 1991 addition begins in a few weeks.
Source: Staff Report
Jim Halsell, at a recent School Board meeting, said some of the windows in classrooms on the south side of the new building need shielding from the sunlight. The south wall is 19,500 square feet of glass.
"I can't imagine that wasn't part of the original specifications," Halsell said after the board meeting.
Louvers are installed above the windows to deflect the sun when it is higher in the sky.
The original design for the high school renovation and expansion included electronic shades, said Superintendent Vicki Thomas, who met with Halsell Thursday morning. When the bids for the project came in more than the $95 million budget, something had to go, she said.
A list of items was either eliminated or altered. A meeting involving school officials, the design team and construction personnel met to get the costs down before the first shovel of dirt was turned, Thomas said.
Although the blinds were eliminated and saved $300,000, the electric infrastructure was installed so blinds could be added, Thomas said.
Shades have been added to the band, orchestra and choir rehearsal rooms because of glare. Those rooms are on the bottom floor of the Performing Arts Center. Blinds have been added to a lecture hall because sunlight prevented a clear view of the screen at the front of the room.
It cost $19,956 to add the blinds, said David Tate, the director of physical plant services.
Principal Steve Jacoby said temporary curtains were installed in the administrative offices on all three floors in the classroom building.
The issue is the brightness of the sun streaming through the windows at certain times of the year and it's not just on the south side of the building. Some teachers have put posters over the windows.
Linda Heter, a math teacher, said her classroom on the east side of the new building catches the early morning sun, making it difficult to see the screen on her laptop and to use the ceiling-mounted projection system.
Heter has used a large piece of black poster board and has printed out class rules on paper and taped to windows to block the sun's rays.
"This room is like a Taj Mahal and it's hard to complain so I do the best I can," she said.
Halsell said posters or other paper hanging in the windows look tacky.
It's not unusual to see posters or other types of artwork on windows at schools, Thomas said.
Halsell said he had a good discussion with Thomas and agreed that at some point blinds could be added.
"It's a compromise position for me," Halsell said.
"There is a certain expectation by stakeholders for the way the building looks and performs," Halsell said.