The new HVAC systems being installed at Southside and Northside elementary schools are on schedule for completion before the school year begins Aug. 10, according to schools Superintendent Scott Hawkins. "It's nice that they're going to be completed before the school year begins and there's not work continuing on once school starts," said Hawkins during a telephone interview on Monday morning. He said both HVAC projects are slated for completion on July 29, but Northside's installation may be finished a few days earlier. Teachers will have access to their classrooms after the school buildings have been cleaned up by crews working for general contractor Marrillia Design and Construction. Because the HVAC projects will not be finished until the last week of July, the floors in the Northside and Southside buildings will likely not have multiple coats of wax applied to them before students return to school on Aug. 10, Hawkins said. "While that's not what we would prefer, I'm very happy that we're going to have two brand new HVAC systems that are going to be much better (than the aging systems being replaced)," said Hawkins. "So when you look at the benefit from that then we'll take a few less coats of wax, and maybe our teachers not quite having the normal amount of time that they would have (in a typical year) to get their classrooms set up." Hawkins said the HVAC projects were started as early as possible – beginning on spring break and then evenings when school was still in session. More invasive work did not begin until this summer when students were no longer in the school buildings. Given the unknowns of ceiling ductwork during an HVAC replacement project, Hawkins said he was pleased with the limited number of change orders for a $3.74 million project.