Water heater problems put a damper on schools accredidation status

By Janelle Randazza

PEABODY—Students were thrilled to get an unexpected day off last week when they were sent home shortly after first period, after a plumbing problem forced administrators to cancel classes and shut down the school last Thursday.
“I’m going out for breakfast!” said Junior Lisa Ferrairo as she waited for her ride to pick her up.
An electric hot water heater malfunctioned sometime Wednesday night, forcing hot water into cold water pipes, affecting the entire school. According to Superintendent of Schools Nadine Binkley and Mayor Michael Bonfanti, a series of minor electrical issues resulted in two switches being frozen in an “on position,” which rerouted the hot water’s path, forcing hot water into the school’s cold water pipes.
The problem was found when someone flushed a toilet and could see steam rising from it.
“I will say this, the high school now has the cleanest toilets in town,” joked Binkley, who said that she was not sure if the person was a student or staff but that the issue was looked into immediately. Students and staff were notified over the PA not to use any water. Walkers and students who had their own vehicles were asked to clear the parking lot for buses at 8:30 and the lot was cleared by 9:50 a.m. By 9:15 a.m. all students were evacuated from the school. According to district business manager Michael Musto, the cost of the damage was about $10,000, which included replacing areas of the ceiling that sustained water damage.
There were no serious injuries reported from the incident, but one teacher who had a history of asthma suffered an attack due to the steam and a custodian suffered a burn as he was trying to fix the problem.
According to staff and students, the incident couldn’t have happened at a better time.
“We just finished mid-terms yesterday. I’m going to go home and go to sleep,” said junior Alyssa Manoogian.
Sophomore Michael Flynn said that he could have used a little more time to plan for the day off, “Now I don’t know what to do with myself,” he said, though his friend and fellow sophomore Justin Celley was certain they’d be able to find something to do with their free day.
“If it had to happen it was the best possible day to happen,” said Binkley, “It was the start of a new term. There was no work for the students to turn in, no projects, no tests. It was a clean slate… I didn’t see a lot of tears.”
Teachers were told that they were free to leave for the day but Binkley said that many stuck around to pitch in and help.
“We really work with an incredible staff. They were willing to lend a hand and do whatever was needed,” said Binkley who also lauded the custodial staff for helping to fix things.
“[Nick] Nicotoni, our director of maintenance, did an A-1 job. The custodial staff worked all day and into the night,” said Binkley, who pointed out that a custodian volunteered to stay over night to monitor the system.
Both Binkley and Bonfanti say that the hot water heater had nothing to do with the list of improvements the school needed to make in order to be taken off the accreditation “warning” list. Still, Bonfanti looked at the incident as an example of why the city needs a facilities manager.
“This is why I keep talking about a facilities manager. There were a lot of different people involved who are administered by a lot of different people. In a situation like this there needs to be one person accountable,” said Bonfanti.
Despite the need for numerous department managers to pitch in to fix and clean up the problem both Bonfanti and Binkley said that, with everyone pitching in, by Friday the hot water issue was resolved and it was business as usual.