News · Facilities
The Cully HVAC is finally done
One hundred and fourteen days, $214,000, and one very patient site coordinator. The Cully building has air.
The Cully site has a new HVAC system. It was installed over eleven days in October, commissioned on November 3, and has now run through a full month without a problem. The total cost was $214,000, which is $106,000 more than the first quote in June 2024.
What happened
The original system was a 1998 rooftop unit that could not keep up in September. We got a quote in June 2024, decided to wait a year because it was a bad budget year, and got a second quote in September 2025 that was nearly double. In between, the refrigerant changed, the roof curb needed replacement, and the electrical panel had to be upgraded to meet code. We paid for all of it and we should have paid for the first quote.
Attendance at Cully in September 2024 was 81%. In September 2025, with fans and a temporary unit, it was 88%. In October 2025, with the new system, it was 93%.
What else changed
- A quiet room, converted from a storage closet, with acoustic tile and a bench.
- A second snack prep station, so the kitchen does not have to deliver everything from Hawthorne.
- New exterior lighting on the Killingsworth side, which families asked for and which we should have done first.
- A bike rack for 14 bikes, funded by the neighborhood association.
Families told us in June that the building was too hot. We heard them and we waited a year anyway. That is the honest version and it is in the annual report too.
There is a chair with your kid's name on it.
Free after-school for grades 4–8, six sites, no tuition, no test.