By Dan Aceto

Staff Writer 

A tour of the Wentworth Intermediate School was one of the first steps for a committee that will help determine the building’s future.

The Wentworth Intermediate Building Committee convened for the second time Monday to discuss steps needed to plan either the construction of a new school or renovations to the existing structure.

The school board appointed more than 30 people from various professions in Scarborough to help formulate ideas. They include architects, engineers, building development planners and a representative from the high school. 

Committee Chairman Paul Koziell said his goal was to gather a well-informed, diverse group of people to examine problems at the school. 

“We tried to get a group with a lot of depth, where people can challenge, criticize and complement each other,” said Koziell, an attorney and operating officer of CPM Constructors.

One of the committee’s main objectives is to form smaller subcommittees to address more specific issues.

They include a district-wide subcommittee of  divisions of public information and outreach, green development, site, technology, district wide, media center and library, interior finishes and athletics and activities. 

School Board member Chris Brownsey said subcommittees will be determined next week after signup sheets are totaled to determine positions. Brownsey said the subcommittees will begin meeting in January. The building committee hopes to prepare a solid direction and design for the School Board in July and have something finalized for the Town Council in August, he said.

Principal Anne Mayre Dexter led the committee through a tour of the building Monday to discuss what work has been done during past years and what needs to be done in the future.
 One cause for concern is heating. Dexter said although the building has three functioning boilers, lack of insulation throughout the school reduces their effectiveness. 

Beth Libby, an art teacher at Wentworth, said her room is noticeably warmer than other parts of the school because it’s located next to the boilers.

“We opened up the door on a cool day once and the thermostat still read 78 degrees,” Libby said.

In the west wing, partition walls set up to allow access between classrooms limit the amount of electrical outlets available because the walls can be removed and are not permanent.

Dexter said rooms in the west wing of the school had seepage problems from water around the windows and doors, but a new drainage system installed this summer has improved conditions in classrooms.

Architect Robert Klinedinst of Harriman Associates, which worked on the previous plan for a new intermediate school building said, “aside from physical and heating problems, the building doesn’t support the needs of children to have a modern education.” 

Libby said insufficient space also is a problem and lack of storage forces students to hang book bags, coats and jackets in the hallway rather than in the classroom.

The east wing, which Dexter referred to as “CO2 land” because of testing that has been done in the area, has its own set of problems.

The wing, which is the only area of the school to have air conditioning and sprinklers, also has no bathrooms and has had issues with rodents.

Dexter also brought up the issue of security. While the high school can be locked down at the touch of a button, teachers at Wentworth are forced to leave their classrooms and lock rooms from the outside because they can’t be locked from within. 

“If you look at it from a financial perspective, if these revisions are going to cost just as much as a new school, then why not build a new one?” Koziell asked.

Work continues in the north wing to replace windows that this summer were found to contain asbestos on the outside glazing.  Dexter said work will be completed by the end of December break.

“One of the things that we need to ask ourselves is, ‘is this building appropriate for children to be in?”’ Dexter asked.

Staff Writer Dan Aceto can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 237.