East Aurora High School closed early Monday due to a problem with the building’s aging heating system, an issue the school district needs to eventually deal with, an East Aurora School District official told the school board Monday night.
Students were sent home early Monday, and had an e-learning day on Tuesday due to the icy conditions. They were back for in-person classes at the high school on Wednesday.
The situation Monday was caused by a leak in some of the steam pipes, said Steve Megazzini, East Aurora School District assistant superintendent for operations, during the school board meeting. The boiler was working, but the leak meant “we weren’t getting heat to a portion of the building,” he said.
“It was quite a bit of a challenge to figure out which area of the building it was affecting and where the leak was, so as a result of that, we did release students at the high school early,” Megazzini said.
Staff was able to find the leak and fix it, Megazzini said.
District officials have talked a little about the need to look at the high school’s heating and cooling system, Megazzini said. He said he would like to have the school board’s Building and Grounds Committee talk about it further.
“One of the biggest issues with the high school is that the boiler system is quite old, and at some point, we’re going to need to address it (so) we don’t have a situation where we don’t have heat at all,” Megazzini said.
The district has been working on HVAC projects and has plans to have every school with new heating and air conditioning by the start of the next school year. The high school is the last one the district is working on, officials said.
East Aurora High School’s heating system works, but it’s older and there are classrooms in the old wing that have drafts, Megazzini said. Another project the district is working on is replacing windows in those areas.
Replacing the mechanical systems could take three years, Megazzini said. He didn’t provide any estimates on the cost.
School staff have been checking on buildings to make sure the cold temperatures didn’t cause any problems, Megazzini said. There were a few buildings where there were minor issues, like a sprinkler head that popped during the cold snap, but no damage was reported, according to officials.
Megazzini thanked the maintenance staff for monitoring the buildings during the cold weather and shoveling and salting the school grounds.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
