Despite the early-morning discovery of a leak in one of their two boilers early last week, Joseph Melillo Middle School (JMMS) students, staff, and faculty experienced little to no disruption.
According to Superintendent of Schools Tony Serio, the leak was discovered having sprung from boiler number two by workers who had arrived for a scheduled repair of boiler number one. The workers were able to fix boiler one before the close of the school day. Serio said boiler two will be replaced as soon as the necessary part arrives.
“Luckily it was a mild day,” said Serio. “The heat was working until they [the workers] shut if off around 7 [a.m.], so the building was warm when the students arrived.”
The leak, Serio said, “wasn’t that bad,” adding that the repairmen “caught it at just the right time.”
The two boilers are close to 15 years old. Serio said that JMMS typically operates only one boiler at a time, using the other as a backup source of heating, except in the case of “really severe cold.”
Serio said the cost of repairing the boiler was about $5,000. He said the boilers are monitored “every day” and scheduled for repairs frequently.
Parents were understanding of the situation and Serio said he didn’t receive any complaints.
-By Meredith Crawford