Muscogee County school’s heating system is broken

Spencer High School’s heating system is broken.

Muscogee County School District superintendent David Lewis confirmed the problem in an email Wednesday to the Ledger-Enquirer.

“The heating system at Spencer is down but a remedy is expected no later than tomorrow (Thursday) and will not impact normal school operations or instructional time,” Lewis said.

Asked for how long the heating hasn’t worked at Spencer and what part of the system broke, Lewis said, “The boiler unit that supplies hot water for the system failed this past Tuesday. It was determined that due to its age, it could no longer be repaired so a temporary replacement boiler will be installed tomorrow. It is expected to be functioning tomorrow afternoon.”

MCSD is constructing a new facility to replace Spencer’s 39-year-old building, which has chronic structural problems. The school off Victory Drive in south Columbus and adjacent to Fort Benning was built on what is known as "plastic soil," which is predominantly clay. It expands and contracts. The movement, officials have said, continues to crack Spencer's foundation, floors and walls.

The $56 million project to construct a new Spencer, on land comprising the closed Cusseta Road and Muscogee elementary schools, where a sports complex also will be developed, is the most expensive of the 24 capital projects totaling an estimated $192,185,000. That list was approved by Columbus voters in a March 2015 referendum, which renewed the 1 percent Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax to help fund MCSD’s capital projects.

The new Spencer scheduled to be finished in time for the start of next school year, according to the construction status reports on this month’s Muscogee County School Board agenda. Lewis confirmed that status Wednesday.

This story was originally published November 15, 2017 at 11:59 AM with the headline "Muscogee County school’s heating system is broken."