Our School is Falling Apart!

Any Somerset resident, and probably residents in surrounding towns, have heard these words spoken over and over again. Why? Because they are true.

Over the past ten years, Somerset High School’s building has been slowly falling apart. Leaks, pipes bursting, boiler problems, and even a collapsing wing of the school are only a few of the problems that have occurred at SHS. For months, students have had to go without classrooms. Bathrooms have been taken away due to unsafe situations. Early dismissals have taken place resulting from problems in the school that could not be taken care of quickly. When the structure of the disintegrating building was inspected, special masks had to be worn so that people would not ingest the poisonous substances that were decaying inside of it.

On February 1st, 2010, an article in the South Coast Spectator read “Students go home early because of heat problem.” On that day, the English office, the English hallway, and the graphics hallway of the school were blocked off due to leaking in the pipes. Actually, it was more like flooding. In fact, it was legitimately raining. Pipes that led to the heater in our school were turned off for the weekend due to a leak that was found on that Saturday. Of course, no one was told about it because the janitors and school committee just hope that it goes away. They all agreed with James Kiely when he stated, “What we're doing now is hoping nothing happens.” Seeing that the weekend they were shut down was the coldest weekend so far, the water in the pipes froze. When the heat was turned back on the following Monday, it would not start. The pipes started to leak and eventually burst, resulting in a huge flood. The water flowed down like a waterfall through the lights in the ceilings and down through lockers. Students were asked to evacuate the “raining” parts of the building and try to find their way to their other classes, if they were safe. Even though it was a bright, sunny day outside, it was a horrible rainstorm inside Somerset High. Student’s belongings were damaged as a result of water flowing from the ceiling into their lockers along with certain possessions in the English office. Kids as well as teachers had to wear their gloves, hats and winter coats to keep from shivering. As students in other schools sat in warm classrooms learning and working, students at Somerset High School sat in the freezing auditorium for hours, waiting until an announcement was made for early dismissal. So shouldn’t Somerset get a new high school?

According to certain school board members, the answer is no. In their minds, it should not even be a question. Supposedly, according to Victor Machado, “the Massachusetts School Building Authority and Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education are trying to bully the town into forming a regional school district by saying the state will only provide money for a new high school building if Somerset and Berkley form a regional school district.” To most Somerset and Berkley residents, they would disagree. McKayla Costa, a SHS student from Somerset, explained that regionalization is a very good idea. She said “Somerset has been with Berkley for so long that regionalizing with the town won’t change much. It is definitely a reasonable idea and will have an excellent outcome on the students.” Willem Matheson, a SHS student from Berkley, also agrees with McKayla that regionalization is definitely a great idea. He states, “Berkley needs a high school in general and Somerset definitely needs a new building. They’re just wasting their time by not regionalizing and soon enough the school will get even worse.” I bet every single student at Somerset High School would agree to that!

By “forgetting the problems” at Somerset High School, the problems will keep getting worse and worse. The metal walls of the boilers are extremely thin and the valves could pop any minute, creating many more problems. This could cause an extremely heavy flood and the students at SHS would be out of school for days and even maybe weeks. Who’s going to get a proper education then? Mr. Kiely stated, “You don't know when it's going to happen again and it could happen at any time.” It will then cost Somerset and Berkley over 175,000 dollars to repair the boilers. If we decide to regionalize, the state will pay about 66% of the funding and will not cost as much for the town. Sadly, it seems as if the townspeople do not have much of a say on the subject and that the school committee is making all the decisions on the regionalization issue. Of course, their answer is a no.

“We are being forced into regionalization and I have made up my mind that it is a horrible idea,” stated Victor Machado at a town meeting. Who said he has all the say? As of right now, the Somerset school committee are the only people who seem to have a definite answer of “no” to regionalization, but most Berkley and Somerset residents say “yes”! In my opinion, I believe the Somerset school committee is just being selfish because they simply do not want to let Berkley have a say in anything.

On Wednesday, February 24, 2010, Somerset High School continued to leak. On that day, the art department had a huge flood, the gym was leaking from the ceiling, and most parts of the school were dripping and having to be repaired. The answer to regionalization and a new school is still a “no”.

And the problems continue to get worse.

Ali R. is a junior at SHS.


Sources:
· http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100210/PUB05/2100378
· http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100203/PUB05/2030440