Putnam Schools Avoided Major Maintenance Issues During Freeze

Putnam County Schools avoided major plumbing and electrical issues during the cold and ice by being proactive.

Communications and Marketing Supervisor Buddy Pearson said coils burning out in an electrical unit at Cookeville High School and a sprinkler malfunction at Avery Trace Middle School have been the only issues over the break. He said the school system is very fortunate with the extreme temperatures experienced.

“Whenever there are snow days, there are still people in the Putnam County School system that are still working, and the maintenance folks are one of those departments that, you know, that’s a really busy time for them because they do make checks,” Pearson said. “Our principals are also very active about going into the building and checking things out and making sure that everything looks good.”

Pearson said Transportation Supervisor Ron Chaffin and his staff at the bus garage are also very active about running checks on buses during the break. He said the minor issues have already been addressed, and schools will be in good shape when students return Wednesday.

“Now with the temperatures that have warmed back up, I think we are out of the woods as far as having to heat the buildings substantially like we would have with the subzero temperatures a week ago,” Pearson said.

Pearson said we are only at the start of winter, so the district’s maintenance team will continue running checks on “trouble spots” throughout the cold season. When cold fronts move in, chillers can go out and other malfunctions can arise, but that is to be expected when maintaining 19 schools through the course of a winter.

“It’s like the saying goes, if you don’t like Tennessee weather, wait five minutes, and it will change, so we’re just kind of preparing for what the forecast is telling us,” Pearson said.

He said the system as a whole will continue to look ahead and anticipate when extra attention will need to be paid to facilities during frigid temperatures. He said the district has an excellent maintenance department that does a great job of identifying potential problems before they happen and addressing them quickly if they do come up.

“Hopefully the rain will come, the rest of the snow will melt, we’ll get back into school, and we’ll pick up where we left off,” Pearson said.