The realities of maintaining a school

Sutton Middle/High School opened September 2013, and ten year later and with hundreds of students and people coming in and out every day, there is a lot of maintenance to get done and repairs to be made.

The school is responsible for keeping the building up to date, safe, and clean, and without regular maintenance, the school could become hazardous. This means that every day the entire school needs to be cleaned, and all of the classrooms, the gym, the cafeteria, the hallways, and all of the bathrooms get cleaned daily.

Air quality and water quality are also important for the school to maintain. Air quality is something that many people do not think about while inside the school, but keeping the air clean and safe is very important, especially to students. 

According to the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), between 1984 and 1994 the rates of pediatric asthma increased by 70% and a statewide survey showed that the rates of pediatric asthma were significantly higher in schools reported with air quality issues. 

MERV (minimum efficiency reporting value) is a rating of how effectively a filter removes particles from the air. The higher the MERV rating, the more particles the filter will catch. Before COVID SHS was using filters with a MERV rating of 8 as these are made more for dust. Since COVID-19 the school now uses filters with a rating of 10 or 13, and these types of filters are what hospitals use and are made to catch germs.

The CDC also states that schools must provide enough clean and safe drinking water to all of the students and staff, and Sutton Public Schools just recently had an issue with its drinking water. 

PFAS (Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances) is the amount of plastic by-products in water. In the past two years the legal limit of PFAS in water in Massachusetts has changed two times. The schools used to have a three filter system, and with the change in the PFAS limit the school was only just above the limit.

According to Mr. Matthew Murphy, school facilities manager, the water was still safe for everyone to drink, but since they were only just above the limit they were still required to change their filtration system. The school needed to turn off the well and supply students with new water systems inside the school.

The school worked along with the Mass Dep and White Water, which does the water testing and maintenance for the school, to get new custom water filters and changed it from a 3-filter system to a 7-filter system. With the new system, the PFAS level is 0.

Sutton High School is located on a 64-acre property, which means the school also needs to maintain the property and the outside of the building itself. The school has to make sure that things like the fields, parking lots, playgrounds, etc. are cleaned and maintained.

Mr. Murphy said that SHS has a full-time mowing position, and sometimes 1 – 2 custodians will help with the mowing work. The school also restripes the field one or two times a week and works with the athletic department based on what they need.

On top of all of this, there are many structural issues from when the school was built such as the roof leaking, many rooms leak water from the ceiling when it rains and when this happens the school needs to try and stop the issue.

SHS is currently working on resealing the roof, however, and this will hopefully solve the issue.

What does it take to maintain a school? As you can see, a non-stop effort by several dedicated, qualified individuals, people we need and are grateful to have working with and for us.