SAUGUS — Saugus’ School Committee voted unanimously last week to turn the old high school over to the town after officials voiced concerns that the now-vacant building poses a safety risk.
“It was tough for security,” said board member John Hatch in a separate interview with the Item. “The police had been called several times already.”
Hatch was the one who made the motion to turn over the school at the May 15 meeting.
“There was too much that could have gone wrong,” he said. “I wanted to turn the high school back over to the town as quickly as possible to limit the liability as quickly as possible.
“They can secure the building and make sure there would be no real way for kids to break in there anymore, and they can get it done soon so no one gets hurt.”
The old Saugus High School was cleared out this spring as students and faculty prepare to move to the district’s new combined middle-high school once the state allows schools to reopen.
Plans are in place to demolish the old building sometime later this year.
“The school is a town building, and the town owns (it), but as a school in operation, the school department and committee are in charge and have all of the say (in what goes on there),” Hatch explained. “But at the end of the day, it is a town facility, and while it’s in school control, I felt that we didn’t have the means to secure the building and make it safe for everybody.
“I thought that as soon as we could take an official vote and turn it over, the town could work to secure the building.”
He added that a recent incident at the school “in broad daylight” was what prompted him to take action.
“I called the superintendent that Tuesday and said ‘enough is enough,'” Hatch said. “I also called some of the school committee members and they agreed with me.”
During last week’s meeting, board member Dennis Gould said he was “disappointed” in some of the district’s parents for allowing their children to trespass on the property.
“That should not be going on, and I’m glad we’re going to turn (the school) over,” Gould said.
