PHOTO BY PAULA MULLER
A sign on the door of the custodian’s office at the Elbridge Gerry School in Marblehead.
By GABE MARTINEZ
MARBLEHEAD — The cluttered classrooms and an aging boiler at Elbridge Gerry School could be updated if voters approve a $795,000 feasibility study at Town Meeting on Monday, May 2.
Built in 1906, the K-1 school has not been renovated once in its history.
Ken Lord, executive director of technology and operations for Marblehead Schools, said the building is in dire need of repairs.
“There are two issues with this building,” Lord said. “Heating plant, windows, carpets, the floors, and the ceilings, and then there are the programmatic issues. The building is just not large enough for the purposes that we use it for today.”
The boiler was installed in 1953, when Dwight D. Eisenhower was president. It has failed three times this year alone.
Five different parts of the boiler have been blocked off, which does not allow the boiler to be used at its full capacity. It also uses rare No. 4 heating oil.
There are 160 kindergarten and first grade students in the building. There are eight classrooms, four for each grade. The building has just two bathrooms for students, both of which are in the basement. There is one bathroom for 28 teachers, faculty, and staff.
The library lacks furniture – except for a chair for the librarian. There’s not enough space to hold all of its books. As a result, shelves are located in the hallway. If a student requires special attention, they use space in the corridor.
For a decade, the school’s needs have been apparent to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA), a quasi-public agency that funds school capital improvements. In 2006, the MSBA visited the school, and gave the school its worst rating.
The feasibility study is a requirement from the MSBA in order to qualify for a state reimbursement program for a new building project, according to marbleheadschools.org. MSBA can reimburse communities up to 80 percent of construction costs.
The process can take up to two years.
In the meantime, the school continues to work with what they have.
“We’ve made the best out of a bad situation,” said Sean Satterfield, the school’s principal.
Gabe Martinez can be reached at [email protected] follow him on Twitter @gemartinez92.