Outside reviews find maintenance, accountability gaps after repeated HVAC failures in Henrico schools
After months of reporting on widespread HVAC problems in Henrico County schools, CBS 6 had the opportunity Tuesday to sit down with the two people at the top of the county and school division to ask what went wrong and what happens next.
CBS 6 Investigative Reporter Melissa Hipolit interviewed Henrico County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Amy Cashwell and Henrico County Manager Vithoulkas following the completion of two third-party assessments examining HVAC operations within the school division and county government.
Those assessments found problems that went beyond aging or failing HVAC equipment. The reviews described operations that remain heavily reactive and identified gaps involving work-order tracking, staffing, maintenance practices and accountability.
The school division's assessment also identified a recurring lack of clear ownership. Among its findings: no one was accountable for the quality of work-order data, there was no identified owner overseeing vendor relationships and there was no consistent process or accountability for making sure problems identified during preventive-maintenance inspections were ultimately repaired.
The decision to have Cashwell and Vithoulkas sit down together also underscored what they said will be a joint effort between the school division and county government to address the problems identified in the reviews.
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