BETHEL — Work is continuing this week on a $2.5 million air quality improvement project at Telstar Middle/High School complex.

Arlynn Hale, lead custodian for the two schools, said Honeywell and some of its subcontractors have replaced some of the high-energy light bulbs with lower-use ones and begun ductwork. Much of the ductwork will be completed this week while students and staff are on vacation.

Most of the other work, including insulating the walls and ceilings and installing ceiling ductwork, will be done during the summer.

The entire project is expected to be completed before the beginning of the new school year in late summer.

All new heating and ventilation units will be installed.

The district saved $1.3 million in a capital fund for the project. It also received $1.2 million from the state’s Quality Schools program at a no or low interest. Voters approved the project late last year.

Plans are also under way for another application to the Quality Schools program to replace the oil-run heating system with a less expensive energy source.

Superintendent David Murphy said using an alternative fuel could save the 40-year-old complex enough that the payments would likely be mostly covered by those savings.

Little has been done to the 40-plus-year-old school complex since it was built in the late 1960s.

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