PEABODY — The Veterans Memorial High School Student Advisory Council talked about its current priorities for this school year and beyond, including plans to enhance safety protocols, at a School Committee meeting.
Advisory Council members Catherine Quaresma and Ian Nguyen, along with teacher Amanda Prouty, said that reviewing current fire-drill protocols, fixing after-school traffic flows, repairing potholes in the student parking lot, and repairing window bug screens are among their priorities in the safety category.
“Unfortunately, the potholes have been ongoing and we hope to have them repaired as soon as possible before anything bad happens,” Nguyen said. “I’ve noticed, and other students have noticed, that screens, like bug screens, are missing from some of the windows in the classrooms and that can be seen as a safety hazard when the windows are open, and we hope to get that repaired as soon as possible.”
Mayor Ted Bettencourt said that he recently met with district officials about the potholes, and that improvements should be expected soon as the district is working on it.
“That is a big problem,” Bettencourt said. “It is very bad at the high school, the student parking lot in particular.”
Regarding the need for new screens, School Committee member Beverley Griffin Dunne agreed that it is an ongoing problem.
“It is a problem, especially for kids who are allergic to bee stings,” Griffin Dunne said.
Quaresma said that the problem regarding screens is prevalent, and she believes there are a total of four windows in the east side of the building that are not screened.
“(A teacher) opens the windows often because it does get hot in there and a lot of kids have noticed it,” Quaresma said. “There’s a lot of window screens that are missing, unfortunately.”
Other plans mentioned included adding multilingual school announcements; improving and increasing communication through the school’s portal, Aspen; increasing publicity and collaboration regarding fundraising, and streamlining the school’s e-payment system to make fundraising easier.
Advisory Council members also described some of the current happenings at the school. The National Honor Society had inductions on April 9, spring sports are underway, and the seniors’ last day of school is May 24. The Stage One Drama Club also recently won a state championship and is now working on its spring show, “Puffs.”
“The sports teams are off to a tremendous start,” Bettencourt said. “I think we have a number of teams in first place already, and we’re crushing it in the performing arts, so it’s terrific.”
