PEABODY — Peabody Veterans Memorial High School is in need of a modern makeover.
On Tuesday, the School Committee met and discussed the quality of the high school’s facilities. Superintendent of Schools Dr. Josh Vadala pointed out issues with the bathrooms and locker rooms, including necessary renovations for “a number of toilets, sinks, door locks, [and] stalls.”
Security cameras are also on track to be installed before the start of the new school year.
Additional work that will be done before the start of the school year includes a district-wide phone system upgrade that enables easier communication with the police and keyless door entry for all schools.
School Committee member Beverley Griffin Dunne acknowledged the current works in progress, but voiced her concerns about the school’s current plumbing, saying “There are plumbing issues throughout the building that, if you’re going to fix toilets, you may as well fix the sinks in the labs. They need to be repaired just as badly.”
“If you look at the list of needs as the high school, we have significant needs in the classrooms,” said Dunne. “I would like to see that the plumbing needs in the science classrooms, when those will be tended to.”
“I’d also like to see a list of the other repairs that are needed and when those can be anticipated, as far as being taken care of. There were a lot of electrical issues that we brought to our attention,” Dunne added.
Dunne also brought up the issue of lockless doors throughout the building.
“The keyless door access is great, that’s going to be district-wide,” said Dunne. “But there are classrooms and offices — at least at the high school and maybe at the other schools too, I’m not sure — that need to make sure they are secure for confidentiality reasons, for safety reasons. There’s a whole slew of them.”
“I’d also like to request that the School Committee be allowed to come up and check on it,” Dunne said in regard to the facility’s repairs.
In response to Dunne, Mayor Edward A. Bettencourt Jr., said “Tell us when you’re coming and the building is open to you. I don’t think that’s necessary in terms of making a request.”
“I want to be clear and I want to temper your expectations, Ms. Dunne. We’re not going to have this all done by August 23rd,” Bettencourt continued. “The focus is bathrooms, locker rooms, and locks. Doors, stalls, all of that.”
“There is other work that needs to be done, you’re 100 percent correct,” Bettencourt said to Dunne.
“We have a dying building, it is a building that is struggling. There is no way we are going to keep up with the repairs and needs of that building. That’s why we’re so vocal in trying to get a new building. We need a new building desperately,” said Bettencourt. “We are just going to have to fight to make sure this building lasts as long as we need it to.”
Vadala added, “We are pleased that the bathroom and locker room issues at PVMHS are being addressed. We anticipate work will be done by August 23rd and an update will be provided to the School Committee at our next meeting.”
Dorothy Irrera can be reached at [email protected].
