Lincoln Elementary School will be getting more than a quarter million dollar roof makeover starting this summer.
    A bid by Wray Roofing in the amount of $255, 955 was unanimously approved by the Unified School District No. 353 school board Thursday night, in a 6-0 vote. Board member Leonard Scheufler was not present for the vote.
    Several bids from different construction companies were submitted to the board for the project. Each bid consisted of several different prices to fix different sections of the roof, and a separate bid to fix the entire roof.
    The board decided — rather than fix sections of the roof — to get the entire roof repaired.
    “This company came highly recommended and they’ve been a good company for a number of years so I think they’ll do a great job with the roof situation,” said Board President David Peck at the meeting.
    Leaks have been reported to be most common in the gym and annex rooms, but according to Roger Altendorf, maintenance director for the district, the leaks vary in size and location.
    “It just depends on the day,” he said.
    Altendorf said the leaks started “a while ago” but since various companies have been called out to patch spots on the roof at Lincoln it hasn’t been as bad.
    Lincoln isn’t the only school with water on the brain. Roosevelt has also been suffering from various leaks and the Wellington High School has also had problems with water leaking in through the walls, due to sealant problems.
    Though patches are all Roosevelt will receive for now, crews will start working on re-sealing the north side of the gym wall at the high school, according to Altendorf.
    “This should cure the problem but we just have to wait for a big rain and see what happens,” he said.
    Lincoln’s roof will be replaced sometime this summer after classes are over and will be built in the same style as the old one, with the roofing company using what is known as built-up-roof on the top of the school.
    Roofhelp.com says a built-up-roof, also known as a BUR roof, consists of multiple plies of roof felts laminated together with bitumen and covered with asphalt, aggregate (gravel or slag), emulsion or a granule-surfaced cap sheet.
    BUR roofing is considered one of the oldest and most reliable ways of installing a new roof. It was first known as composition roofing and started in the 1840s.
    Altendorf says, workers will do exactly what the name implies — build up the center of the roof so that the outside slopes to allow water to drain away from the building. Talk of placing gutters instead of roof drains has also been discussed by the board, though is yet to be determined.
    The maintenance director says the roof should last about 15 years.
    The installation of the new roof won’t interfere with summer classes, according to Peck. Summer school will instead be held at Washington Elementary School this year.