The Lowell - Bungalow heaters installed after delay (12/07)

Bungalow heaters installed after delay (12/07)

Written by Dylan McHugh

Vandalized air-conditioning and heating units for T-137, T-139 and T-141 were replaced between Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, according to an unsigned e-mail from Vanir Construction Management which was forwarded by Janée Montelongo, assistant principal in charge of buildings and grounds.

    Chinese teacher Xiaolin Chang, who teaches in T-141, said the new units pleased her students. “My students are so happy now,” she said. “They’re thrilled.”
    Senior Emily Wolf, who has a class in T-139, said that being in a bungalow without heat for about two months “sucked.”
    “We were freezing while we were trying to learn,” she said. “I remember (English teacher Staci) Carney saying that it was like a refrigerator.”
    On Oct. 11, Chang filed a form with Montelongo requesting repairs on the vandalized units.         On Oct. 30, Montelongo sent a memo to teachers in the affected bungalows stating that Vanir Construction would replace the air-conditioning and heating units in approximately two weeks, according to English teacher Staci Carney and Chang. Montelongo visited Chang’s classroom after the units were replaced six weeks later, apologized for the wait and blamed the district for the delay, according to Chang.
    An invoice for the replacement units was sent to the district, which is paying for the replacements, according to the unsigned Vanir e-mail. The district project manager for Lowell, who declined to give his name, stated in an e-mail forwarded by Montelongo that the replacement units cost approximately $3,500 each and that the district is insured “for all construction projects.”     The project manager attributed the delay to the modular company, which needed to order the replacement units because they were not in stock.
    The Vanir representative did not know the police case number for the vandalism and thus the San Francisco Police Department could not be contacted in association with the vandalism. Dean Ray Cordoba was unaware of the vandalism.

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