The Fox C-6 School District has announced the first two schools that will have roofs replaced with Proposition M bond money.
Joe Voypick, a Navigate Building Solutions project manager, on Oct. 6 told Board of Education members the first two schools to get new roofs will be Antonia Middle School in Barnhart and Fox High School in Arnold. The district hired Navigate to be its owner’s representative for the $48 million bond issue projects.
“A districtwide report was done to identify all areas of roofing that were in need of repairs or replacement prior to the bond issue, and this is our first pass at packaging some of those roofs together to procure and fix,” Voypick told the board.
According to board documents, the district will replace all 12 roof sections at Antonia Middle School. Voypick said the warranty for the school’s roof is nearly finished, and Antonia Middle is the first school that will receive a full roof replacement.
Voypick also told the board, Fox High has six roof sections that were classified as critical to replace in a timely manner, and four more roof sections are being replaced to coincide with replacing HVAC units on those roofs and because the warranty on those sections also are nearly done. Board documents show Fox High has 26 roof sections.
Fox C-6 will begin seeking bids for the roof projects on Oct. 30, and board members are expected to select a contractor to do the work on Dec. 1. Construction would begin after this school year, which is scheduled to end on May 28, 2027, according to board documents.
Voypick told the board the roof projects are expected to be done before the start of the 2027-2028 school year.
Voypick told the board the district will have three forms of roof replacements.
Roofs with one layer of existing roofing and no widespread water infiltration issues will be retrofitted.
Roofs with more than one layer of existing roofing and that have water infiltration issues will be replaced.
Metal roofs will have rust inhibitor and sealant applied.
Voypick told the board the retrofit is a more cost-effective method to get a new 30-year warranty. He also said roofs that are retrofitted or replaced will have a 30-year warranty, but metal roofs will have a 15-year warranty. He said the shorter warranty for metal roofs are standard.
“Where we can, we will pursue (the retrofit option) just to save on budget and still guarantee that long-term warranty,” he said. “If we do have multiple layers of roofs or widespread water infiltration, we have to proceed with roof replacement, which involves remediation of the insulation and coverboard underneath and a full tear off of that existing system. We are going to limit this as much as we can only to the areas specifically that need it due to compounding issues.”
Voypick told the board it costs about 15 to 20 percent more to replace a roof instead of having it retrofitted.
Superintendent Paul Fregeau said the term retrofit may be misunderstood. He said that method is still full roof replacement.
The $48 million bond issue was approved by voters in April. The measure was called Prop M, which stood for “maintain our schools, modernize our safety measures and manage our resources,” and the money will be used for HVAC system and roof replacements, installation of safety and security improvements in buildings and paying off existing leases.
Fox C-6 previously purchased a crisis alert system from Centegix for $1,058,400, and that system is expected to be completely installed throughout the district by the end of the month.
Prop M money also will be used to update HVAC units and temperature controls at Clyde Hamrick and Rockport Heights elementary schools, and Fox C-6 will replace part of the roof and update the HVAC unit and temperature controls at Fox Middle.
The district said the bond money also will pay for partial roof replacements at Meramec Heights and Seckman elementary schools and Seckman High.