Leaky roof is all wet
Published on September 17th, 2003
STONEHAM, MA - There are plenty of reasons for hoping the residual rains from Hurricane Isabel stay away, not the least of which is the condition of a couple of roofs around town.
School Superintendent Dr. Joseph Connelly and Director of School Facilities Ken Ingersoll updated the School Committee last Thursday to the severe problems wreaking havoc on top of Stoneham High School and Middle School.
The roofs are old, likely going on 20 or 25 years now, and leaks are being addressed as needed. Lately, those leaks are causing headaches for office inhabitants, locker room users and others.
The fix is not an easy one. The town has had a moratorium on capital projects due to the difficult budget climate but the situation is growing worse.
"I really do not think we can go one more year without spending money on capital needs for the High school and Middle School," Connelly said.
According to Ingersoll, there are a dozen or so visible leaks in the roofs and probably many more that cannot be seen. The High School roof's pitch is a problem with snow and ice collecting in winter. This past week, another $15,000 was spent on roof repairs with the Middle School sustaining more damage with leaks in an office and the girls' locker room.
While talk about replacing the Middle School building has circulated for some time, the decision of replacing vs further repairing the roof becomes more complicated.
"It's like the ten year old car you're about to get rid of. Do you go make major repairs on it? I'm hoping in the next 20 years we're going to have a new Middle School," School Committee member Dan Moynihan said.
Connelly reminded the committee that the Middle School feasibility study was completed and the original hope was that construction on a new Middle School would have commenced by now. However, the state has cut funding to building projects and a list of new projects will not be reopened until 2006, with waits for state reimbursement money expected to stretch out 10-12 years.
"That school is going to have to work for us for the next 10 years. Therefore, we have to look at these capital needs. We still need to maintain a safe and healthy environment."
The cost to replace the roof is about $1,000 per square foot, Ingersoll said. The Stoneham High School roof measures about 400,000 square feet. Options to address the issue include a Town Meeting warrant article, replacing the roof in stages over a five year plan, or bonding the entire project at once. Discussion with the Finance Board and Board of Selectman is needed.
Those discussions will also involve another big ticket item - replacement of fire and smoke doors and hardware at the High School and Middle School. These doors, Ingersoll said, have "deteriorated to a point where repairs may not even be able to be made."
But the discussion must be fast on this issue since the condition of the doors currently violates state fire code, according to Building Inspector Gene Argiro. Ingersoll is awaiting the Building Inspector's report.
"He made it quite clear to me...he wants to see some action taken. I really don't think these can be overlooked too much longer."
The doors to be replaced include the exterior doors along the sides of the high school building, the doors to the stairwells, corridors, auditorium, gymnasium, and cafeteria. Nearly all the doors at the Middle School are involved with the exception of the front doors.
Replacement costs for the doors is estimated at $2,800 per set of doors, with hardware (crash bar) making up $2,000 of that. The total project is estimated at $220,000.
Ingersoll said that the state fire code has not changed but enforcement is now stricter.
School Committee Chairman Marc Grimaldi stated that in light of the tragic fire at The Station nightclub in Rhode Island, replacement of the doors must be a top priority.
"My personal opinion is an item like this is as genuinely a public safety item as we're going to see...I'd like to see it done as quickly as possible...We don't have a choice."
"I think it would be in the school's best interest to get all these doors done in one fell swoop," Ingersoll said.
School Committee member Marie Christie said the Middle School doors must be about 47 years old with the High School doors only a decade or so younger.
Robin Hood School
One building that should not see problems of that type for a long time is the newly renovated Robin Hood School, which hosted the School Committee's September 11 meeting.
Robin Hood School PTO representative Maribeth Kelley welcomed the committee to the new school and updated it on that group's upcoming schedule of events which includes a dedication ceremony on October 4, a Halloween event later in October and a Turkey Shoot in November.
Robin Hood School Principal Alice Reilly thanked the PTO for its hard work in helping move the school back into the building and readying it for a successful reopening.
School Readiness
All the schools got off to a good start on September 4, Connelly reported. New teachers have been paired with veteran teachers who will act as mentors for the year. Coordinated by Assistant Superintendent Dr. Joseph Casey and teacher Deb Deacon, the mentoring program provides new teachers with a resource to use as needed throughout their initial year in Stoneham.
"Our mentor teachers are really people who give of themselves tirelessly," Casey said, thanking all those involved in the program, currently and previously.
There are about 28 new teachers in the system this year, along with a couple new administrators and secretaries, and three to four new custodians. One .5 special education position remains open.
Revenue Generating
This year, several programs have been put in place or expanded in order to generate much needed revenue.
"Sometimes in public education you do the right thing for the wrong reason," Connelly said, referring to Stoneham's first attempt at a full day Kindergarten program.
Stoneham Public Schools has always offered a part time Kindergarten program. Last year, the School Committee decided to offer a full day fee program in order to bring money into the system. The plan is in place with 16 Kindergartners and one teacher. One aid is also on board, with that position funded through grant money. This year, Connelly reported, the program will generate a profit of $13,571.
"Full day Kindergarten is long overdue on Stoneham. We did it because we needed revenue."
For the last couple of years, Stoneham has also offered an after school child care program. Again, in an attempt to generate greater revenue from the successful program, the School Committee voted last year to expand the program into all four neighborhood schools. The result is 340 students in total signed up this year and an estimated $68,000 in additional revenue to the system.
Parents have inquired about expanding this program even further to Middle School students. Middle School Principal Jim Andreottola has reportedly sent out a survey to determine interest.
"Due to our aggressive efforts to generate revenue...we have $80,000 in additional revenue to use to offset unanticipated costs during the year," Connelly said. Two other fee programs, the student bus program and the Pre-school program, are expected to break even for the year due to low interest.
Crisis Averted
Thank you notes are going out to the many parties who responded to last week's near catastrophe when a tanker overturned at the 93/128 cloverleaf.
According to Connelly, as soon as word of the potential resulting chemical leak came through, Stoneham Schools went into crisis management mode.
Stoneham Police were notified and responded immediately to the Robin Hood School which sits close to the highway. Twelve buses with twelve drivers drove up and idled outside the building, ready to evacuate staff and students to Stoneham High School. Principal Tom Ryan and even the high school cafeteria staff prepared for their arrival. Robin Hood School staff set up a phone line for parents and worked to keep students calm during the commotion.
Ultimately, a leak was averted and evacuation was not necessary, but Connelly did point out that although Stoneham this year is a very small customer of the North Suburban Bus Company, with just two buses employed for Stoneham students, North Suburban did not hesitate to discharge a dozen buses immediately.
"It was very well handled...Everyone was ready to jump in and help."
Scholarship
A $1,000 scholarship in the name of Mary Ellen Lacey, long time Guidance Department Secretary at Stoneham High School, has been established and will be given to a deserving High School graduate beginning this graduating year.. Connelly stated that the scholarship will continue as long as funds allow and additional donations to it will be accepted.
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