IRON MOUNTAIN — A major upgrade is planned on the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system at the Iron Mountain Schools’ Izzo-Mariucci building.

The school board this week approved hiring Gundlach Champion Inc. of Iron Mountain to oversee installation and OHM of Hancock for engineering. It’s expected to take several months to a year to complete the work and final costs are not yet known but likely will exceed $1 million.

The steam boiler system is original to the building and the district is having problems finding parts.

Some of the work proposed includes replacing the hanging HVAC units with two gas-fired rooftop units, re-enforcing the ceiling, changing all conversion units and installing new piping where needed.

In other business, the board:

— Hired Lydia King as a temporary employee to help with moving and reorganizing files. Superintendent Jerry Sardina said the work is time-consuming. Files need to be reorganized to create more room for more files. Some of the files will also need to be digitized.

— Approved hiring Dr. John Scholten of Michigan Leadership Institute to assist the district in completing its strategic plan, at a cost not to exceed $1,500. Scholten is currently working with community schools on a strategic plan and the district would try to use his services while he’s already in the area to save costs.

— Learned a new portable graduation stage has been purchased for $11,272. The new stage is double the width of the current one, which is in bad condition.

— Increased substitute rates to $135 per day, up from $125. Half days would be $69.50.

— Approved the termination of Iron Mountain Home School Partnership community expert Michaella Winter. She had been teaching gymnastics.