MINOT – The School Committee on Tuesday night told Director of Operations Gordon Murray to fast-track work on the front entrance to the Minot Consolidated School because water damage to the exterior walls and doors is worse than originally thought.
The extent of the problem came to light, Murray said, when the Community Club’s project to remodel the teachers’ room found a soft area in the drywall by the exterior entrance.
“I found the water had come inside the wall from the cement slab that was pitched toward the door and wall. Rain and snow collect and penetrate the exterior walls as well as the three doors,” Murray said.
Murray said it seems the problem has gone on for 20 years ever since the slab was poured. Most of the slab slopes toward the parking lot, but the inner 1 foot or 2 slopes toward the building.
Murray said the most practical solution, one that avoids replacing the entire slab, is to wall-in the 10- by 20-foot roofed entryway.
If the concrete piers supporting the roofed overhang prove to be essentially sound, the project could be done for as little as $15,000, Murray said.
The School Committee authorized Murray to get bids for the project, drawing on the school’s capital asset account, with the suggestion that all effort be made to complete work by the start of school.
Principal Margaret Pitts noted that parents waiting for their children at the end of the school day will take comfort in the enclosed entryway.
Thanking Community Club members for their generous donations of labor, materials and equipment for the teachers’ room transformation, Pitts announced that the room will be dedicated to Phyllis (Gram) French at the school’s August open house.
Assistant Superintendent Marc Gendron noted that the fiscal year’s end-of-year available fund balance stands at less than $5,000 and “that’s the tightest budget I’ve ever seen.”
In other business, the School Committee hired Linda Bernier to teach fifth grade and Kathryn Adams as special education teacher in the autism program. The committee also accepted, with regret, Sue Staples’ resignation from her education technician position with special education.
The committee also agreed to change the time and location of its monthly meetings. With no July meeting, the committee will meet at 6 p.m. Aug. 22 in the school library.
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