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A first for Ramona Elementary’s cafeteria — air conditioning

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When Renee Doomey learned that a Friends of Ramona Unified Schools’ grant request for heating and air conditioning units for Ramona Elementary School had been denied, she said she knew someone who could help — her dad, Ron Lovell.

And he did.

Lovell, who works with Helix Mechanical, asked for specifics at the next FORUS meeting, and that was the last the group saw or heard from him — until his daughter reported that two five-ton Trane HVAC units had been donated to the school district.

Ramona Unified School District’s maintenance department installed the units outside the elementary school’s multipurpose room/cafeteria.

It’s the first time the school afeteria, which doubles as a multipurpose room and is used by community groups — including the Ramona Boys & Girls Club during summer lunches, has had air conditioning.

“You don’t want to be in there in the summer,” Ramona Elementary teacher Sandy Jimenez said.

“Many thanks to many,” FORUS member and retired Ramona Elementary teacher Lynda Kubinak said in her slide presentation of the work leading to installation of the units.

This is an example of cooperation among a nonprofit, contributors and the school district, said FORUS member Dave Patterson. He calls it “community working together.”

At a recent school board meeting, Patterson lauded the school district, “particularly Ed Anderson (the district’s maintenance and operations supervisor) and his maintenance crew,” for making this and other FORUS projects possible. The nonprofit formed in 2013 after the 2012 school bond bid failed. The group’s goal is to fill health and safety gaps at Ramona’s public schools.

A heating and air-conditioning unit at Ramona Elementary became a priority when FORUS learned the cafeteria likely is the only school building without air conditioning, and the Reznor ceiling heaters were about 35 years old and not energy efficient.

While one 10-ton HVAC unit would be ideal, Anderson explained that, because of the electrical system in the building, two five-ton units are needed.

After receiving the unit specs that Anderson prepared, Lovell negotiated for a reduced price from Trane.

He then talked to Helix Mechanical, and that firm and its employees paid $7,000 for the units.

“And the rest is history,” Kubinak’s presentation continues.

School maintenance employees Bryan Barraza and Brian Pacheco went to work. They installed registers in the ceiling of the cafeteria, put ductwork in the crawl space above, fed power to outside outlets, and cemented poles outside to secure the needed fencing to protect the new units. Hurricane Fence installed the fencing surrounding the units.

Next will be sheet metal work to put a lid over the units, and the district will run a gas line to the new heaters. Electricity powers the air conditioning, and gas will power the heat, said Anderson, who recalls attending summer dances in the multipurpose room in the 1970s.

Anderson estimated that the district paid about $12,000 for the work it did. Had an outside firm done all of the work, it would have cost about $30,000, he said.

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