While about 116,000 public school students are pondering what they’ll do over summer break, Duval County Public Schools officials know what’s on their schedule this summer and into next year — nearly $3 million in fire sprinkler repair and replacement.
That’s on top of more than $5 million in fire sprinkler work completed in the past 18 months.
With more than 60 percent of the school system’s buildings at least 50 years old, upkeep is a continual process, said Paul Soares, assistant superintendent for operations.
The school system employs a staff of state-certified fire safety inspectors who work under the guidelines of the Division of the State Fire Marshal and Florida State Fire College.
They visit each campus annually, evaluate each building and schedule necessary repairs or replacements.
With certified inspectors on staff, school buildings are not routinely inspected by the Jacksonville Fire & Rescue Department, said spokesman Tom Francis. Private schools, day care centers and other private businesses and places of assembly are inspected annually, he said.
The public schools maintenance staff services more than 17 million square feet of building space and completes more than 140,000 work orders each year.
The major maintenance line item is funded this fiscal year by the school system at $12.7 million with an additional $11.6 million appropriated for Safety to Life.
Sprinkler systems at five high schools and middle schools have been repaired or replaced since February 2014.
Three schools are scheduled for major sprinkler system work through September 2016 (see accompanying chart).
All public schools are equipped with fire alarm systems and extinguishers, but not all have sprinkler systems, Soares said.
Depending on the design, schools with multiple stories or hallways and stairwells that must be used to evacuate a building have sprinklers.
Schools where students can be evacuated from classrooms through a single door generally do not have sprinklers.
Soares said the danger of fire in schools is not a major issue. He said the last incident he remembers was a small fire isolated to a single room at Sandalwood High School. It was quickly detected and extinguished.
“In a fully sprinklered building, just about any kind of fire doesn’t stand much of a chance,” said Soares.
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