High school plan focuses on security

SAUGUS – Two different groups are devoting their Mondays, one meeting at 7 a.m. and one at 6 p.m., with the singular goal of securing state funding for a new high school.”We’re working on a renewed Statement of Interest,” said School Committee Chairman Wendy Reed.The Massachusetts School Building Authority rejected the town’s application for funding a new school in December. The School Committee responded by voting to continue the effort and reapply for the April 11 deadline. Working jointly with the Board of Selectmen, Town Manager Scott Crabtree, a handful of Town Meeting members and school officials, Reed said the committee will have the new SOI completed by March 30.”On April 3, our regular meeting night, we’ll start with a joint meeting with the Board of Selectmen and we will vote on the SOI,” she said. “It has to be submitted by the tenth.”In the reworking of the document, Reed said it’s been important to list every possible issue with the school in the hopes of hitting a nerve with the state.Monday, as Curriculum Supervisor Frank Woods and Saugus High School Principal Michael Hashem took turns reading the draft statement aloud, security issues hit a nerve with committee members.Police Sgt. Paul VanSteensburg and Deputy Fire Chief Michael Newbury were on hand to voice public safety concerns with the building, which namely added up to access.Built in 1954 for $2.2 million, the high school has 43 doors but no easy access or egress, according to VanSteensburg.”We can get a cruiser behind the high school but it’s tight,” he said. “And you have to turn around to get out. You can’t drive all the way around the building.”In the SOI the school is described as a “sprawling maze-like horizontal edifice” and “incredibly inefficient.””It’s a half mile footprint with no way to secure the building,” Woods said.Likewise Newbury pointed out there are few if any smoke detectors or carbon dioxide detectors, an antiquated fire alarm system that runs on fuses and re-wiring the building for a new system, which would have to include a sprinkler system, would be cost prohibitive.”To put in a system like that you’d need a lot more than a smile and a handshake,” he said.School Committee member Corinne R. Riley seemingly summed up everyone’s thoughts on the school’s security flaws when she said simply, “we’ve been very lucky.”Town Meeting member Christine Moreschi said as a parent, she found the lack of access frightening.”How long would it take to get to someone in the back of the building?” she wondered.Committee members also went over three of five priorities that will be the focus of the SOI: renovating or replacing the school, potential loss of accreditation and instructional/programming concerns due to an obsolete building.The other priorities are the concerns over the potential for overcrowding and energy inefficiencies.”This is just a draft,” Reed said. “This is the first time we’re seeing the priorities in writing.”Reed suggested everyone take the time to digest the material, make their comments and “Monday we’ll work on the rest of it.”When asked if they were being more mindful of the project the second time around, Reed said she hopes they are being more transparent, more clear about why it’s important and hitting all the right issues.”It’s an exercise for all of us to be on that same page,” she said. “We need to touch on everything that we feel is important to get the state’s attention.”