Building Update: Repair Work From Fire Nearly Complete & School Will Open Monday

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Dear Students, Parents, and Staff,

As of 6:00 PM Sunday evening I have been notified that our building is ready to re-open Monday morning for normal operation. As you know, a fire in the second floor boy’s bathroom forced the evacuation of our school at approximately 11 AM last Thursday. Students and staff were bused to nearby Swasey Gymnasium where they were later released to go home. Due to the fire the building took on some smoke damage, particularly on the second floor. An environmental cleaning crew army was quickly dispatched and has been working with a team of subcontractors around the clock since the incident to repair the damages. Work has included the temporary installation of about 50 air-scrubbers and deodorizer machines, a complete vacuum and clean-out of our HVAC system, surface cleaning on walls, furniture, and other vertical and horizontal surfaces, and the replacement of hundreds of ceiling tiles on the second floor. Throughout the work, the company has performed air quality tests to insure that the building is safe and ready for normal operation.

As we start the week, some work will still continue. The deodorizers are gone, but the 50 “air scrubbing machines” will remain in the hallways through the week. Crews will continue to work on the clean-out of the HVAC system in areas of the building after school hours. Finally the second floor bathroom, which sustained heavy damage, will be closed for repairs for the next 2-3 weeks.
As I said in my letter to students last week, I am proud of the way they acted during the incident. I thank my staff for their response during the incident. Special education teacher Jim Enright, assisted by special education teacher Scott Maxwell, put the fire out almost immediately. Administrators Ann Hadwen and Michelle Catena executed a massive off-site evacuation quickly and efficiently. Administrators from the SAU assisted us in the evacuation at the Swasey Gym. You may have read in the newspaper that the fire was intentionally set. I would like to thank School Resource Officer Rick Theriault and Assistant Principal Michael Turmelle for completing an investigation and turning over the name of a suspect to the police. This kind of an incident is something we as a school community have no tolerance for, and the consequences can be extremely severe should the suspect be charged for the incident.

I would like to thank all of the emergency responders from Kingston and the surrounding communities who reacted quickly to keep us all safe. Finally, I would like to thank Director of Facilities Steve Riley, his crew, and Business Administrator Carol Coppola for working throughout the weekend to get our building ready for re-opening tomorrow.

Parents, THANK YOU as always for your cooperation and your understanding during this whole ordeal. You made it easy for my staff to do what they needed to do to keep all of our children safe.
In the wake of a negative incident, our entire community responded with Sanborn P.R.I.D.E. I am fortunate to work for such a great school community!

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