Peabody High to replace door keys

PEABODY – Leftover capital funding previously allocated for renovations at Peabody Veterans Memorial High School will not go to waste, said principal Ed Sapienza. It will be reinvested into a series of other projects throughout the building.Sapienza said he plans to use a portion of the $192,858 remaining on re-keying the entire building.”All the doors and locks over time have been replaced and swapped out,” he said. “So now we have a number of different keys. We’re always standing around, fumbling about, trying to find the right one.”Sapienza said his goal is to get the school on a system where the locks are compatible with a small set of keys.”It’s a pretty extensive venture,” he said, explaining that the building has approximately 300 doors. “Putting new lock sets and key devices on them is no small task.”There are also plans to use a portion of the money to beef up security around the school, which Sapienza says is one of the larger buildings (in terms of square footage) north of Boston. There are a number of security cameras located throughout the campus already, but adding more to the roster would make a great deal of a difference, said Sapienza.”Being able to monitor different areas (of the campus) at once is a challenge,” he said. “Security cameras will help us in our effort.”Sapienza said he’s looking forward to using the funds for improvements in technology. With the help of the bond money, 8-10 additional SMART Boards will be installed to enhance science and math classrooms. More laptops, projectors and projection microscopes will also be purchased and put to use.”I get excited about that kind of stuff,” said Sapienza. “That’s the real tangible stuff that goes directly toward the students.”The few remaining old-fashioned blackboards will also be replaced with dual-purpose whiteboards.”We have plenty of good uses for (the money),” said Sapienza, adding that the improvements will help fill the school’s goals sighted in the NEASC report. “We’ll be in good shape.”