Southeast High School roof required an expensive fix – but it might have been free

Southeast Local Schools spent thousands of dollars this year to repair parts of a seven-year-old roof without first checking if the manufacturers’ warranty would pay for it, district officials said.

The school board has promised to investigate the issue and present findings at the July 28 meeting.

In March 2018, the Southeast Board of Education unanimously awarded Boak & Sons, Inc., of Austintown, a $337,144 contract to replace the aging roof over the high school’s science, Future Farmers of America (FFA) and carpentry wings.

Boak completed the work in August 2018 and supplied a two-year warranty covering their workmanship. The district also secured a 30-year warranty from Johns Manville, the company that actually produces the roofing material.

During a routine facilities audit conducted in May 2022, the Youngstown-based BSHM architectural firm concluded the high school roof — much of which was almost 20 years old — needed almost $2.5 million in repairs within two to four years, Southeast superintendent Robert Dunn said.

Tremco, a Beachwood-based roofing and building maintenance company, in December 2024 used infrared technology to zero in on problem areas and found several in the seven-year-old roof, most of them stemming from flashing: where one part of a roof connects with another.

In other words, the workmanship was the problem, and that’s why business manager Brian Kinter said he did not pursue a warranty claim with Johns Manville.

Tremco supplied Southeast with a $399,798 quote to repair Boak’s work and to repair the almost 20-year-old roof over the high school’s language arts wing. The contract called for adding seven new roof drains, flashing, removing and replacing wet installation, and applying a base coat, membrane and top coat.

It does not specify how much of the almost $400,000 was to repair Boak’s work, and how much was to repair the roof over the language arts wing. The Portager reached out to Tremco, but received no further clarification because, a company representative said, the job was billed under a single purchase order.

The board discussed the matter during its Dec. 16, 2024, regular meeting, and ultimately paid Tremco for the work it completed in April 2025.

Still bothered about the warranty issue, Kinter called Boak & Sons at the end of May 2025. He said he met Boak VP of Operations Chris White on the roof June 5 and listened to the Boak executive repeat that the roof was out of warranty.

The industry standard is for the manufacturer, in this case Johns Manville, to assume responsibility for both materials and workmanship after the initial two-year warranty expires, White said. But since Boak was only contacted after the repairs had been all but completed, White said he believed any possible warranty claim against Johns Manville may have been voided.

He said he recommended that Kinter contact the roofing manufacturer. Kinter said he does not recall that conversation.

“We had a roof that needed fixed. We addressed that roof,” Dunn said.

Complicating matters is another section of the high school roof that Diamond Roofing completed in 2015. That section, over SHS’s weight room, butts up against the roof Tremco was repairing in April 2025. Tremco workers noticed that the weight room roof may also have some urgent problems. The roof is not leaking at this time, Kinter said.

Kinter said he contacted Diamond in April 2025. Though its two-year warranty period was expired just as Boak’s had been, Diamond helped Kinter facilitate a warranty claim with Elevate, its roofing material manufacturer. Steps are now underway to determine if the roof needs to be repaired and if those repairs would indeed be covered under Elevate’s warranty, Kinter said.

If Diamond had simply done the repair work in April without having initiated a warranty claim, it could have voided Elevate’s warranty, Kinter said.

That’s what irks former Board Member Kevin Werschey. Kinter, he said, should have pursued a warranty claim with Johns Manville before having Tremco repair Boak’s work. Covering up the roofing contractor’s work guarantees no claim can be initiated, much less resolved in Southeast’s favor.

Werschey remains convinced that taxpayer dollars have been ill-spent. He’s involved with Southeast Pirates Athletic Community Endeavor (SPACE), a community nonprofit that’s trying to erect a new concession stand at the high school stadium. The $400,000 would have covered the amenity, he said.

“These people need to be held accountable for wasting $400,000, is the bottom line, and they did,” he said.

Board Member Frank Voss also wants answers.

“If the insulation was wet, it was wet due to a failure of something, and that failure should have been covered under warranty,” he said, adding that Southeast should never deal with Boak & Sons again.

The school district is, though. During a July 9 conversation with The Portager, Kinter alluded to several more quotes Boak has proffered for additional roofing work the district requires. No contracts have been awarded, he said.

Speaking to board members during their June regular meeting, Werschey asked for answers. Board President Erin Ahrens asked for a month to investigate and promised more information during its July 28 meeting. A Tremco representative will be present, but no one from Boak will attend, Dunn said.