AMESBURY — Emotions ran high at Monday night’s School Committee meeting during discussions about the future of Amesbury Innovation High School.
The alternative school is located at 71 Friend St., and leased to the school district by All Saints Anglican Church of Amesbury. While no vote was taken regarding the future of its expiring lease, School Committee members, Superintendent Elizabeth McAndrews and members of the public discussed the issue at length.
Amesbury Innovation High School staff and students are currently conducting classes at Amesbury Middle School after there was a report of gas in the building on Oct. 30.
After the Amesbury Fire Department responded to the scene, they found a water leak from a steam radiator in a class and multiple fire code violations in the basement.
As a result, AIHS students and staff quickly relocated to Amesbury Middle School where they have been conducting business ever since.
Asbestos and asbestos-containing materials were also discovered on the building’s steam boiler and associated piping according to a Dec. 1 letter from Jim Wilson, director of Inspectional Services; Amesbury Health Inspector Deb Kitchen; and Collin Schaefer, Regional Health Inspector.
“The building shall not be granted occupancy until remediation is completed and proper air quality testing has been conducted,” the letter said.
Parents, staff and an AIHS student voiced their concerns about the move to the middle school becoming permanent.
“On Oct. 30, our staff of 10 was told to pack what we needed for a month in an effort to educate our students,” AIHS adjustment counselor Bethany Noseworthy said. “We were told it was temporary. In 24 hours, we moved, set up classrooms and then welcomed our students to the eighth grade floor of AMS. They were told not to leave that floor. They were told to go in and out through a separate entrance, that they were not to integrate with the middle school at all. Imagine how that felt for them for just a minute. How some of them even get up in the morning and make it to school still amazes me, and now it’s even more challenging.”
Then, School Committee member Greg Noyes addressed a previous comment made by a parent about the financial impact of sending students elsewhere if AIHS were to permanently remain in the middle school.
“I sit here and parents stand up there and they pour out their heart. And, then they say ‘and I will bankrupt your school.’ and frankly, that is offensive,” he said.
A brief back-and-forth argument ensued between Noyes and an audience member which was then broken up by Mayor Kassandra Gove.
Shortly thereafter, a member of the audience interrupted Gove and criticized the mayor about the move to the new City Hall.
School committee member Kate Slater stepped in to address the audience member which led to an argument between the two parties.
“We are all here for the students, every single person,” Slater said.
Then, Gove explained the reasoning behind why the vote on the lease was listed on the meeting’s agenda.
“We have an agenda item for later on tonight about the Innovation lease. It’s important for everyone to recognize that this board cannot engage in debate or discussion until we sit at this table. We have to be here to have this conversation, so this is going to be our chance tonight. Yes, we included vote possible. We say it on all these things here. They say vote possible or vote expected, it says possible. Because, if we don’t have it, then we couldn’t take any action. So, we have to put that on there.”
Pertaining to the timeline of repairs at AIHS, Gove said the committee was seeking the same answers as members of the public.
“We are subject to a legal agreement with an outside entity. We don’t own that building. We want the same answers that everybody else does about how temporary is this, what the timeline is, what’s wrong, when we’re going to know when it will be fixed and all of the same questions you have. It’s very much an evolving situation,” she said.
Gove then referred to a letter sent on Nov. 26 from the city attorney to the senior warden of the church stating the church had breached its lease.
“The failure to provide a safe and code-compliant property, particularly where children are the primary occupants of the premises, is a material default under the lease, and, for all intents and purposes, constitutes a constructive eviction,” a portion of the letter said.
Gove also said the church recently began communicating with the district about its ability to make the necessary repairs following a long period of minimal information.
However, Gove also said the committee would need to discuss an appropriate timeline for repairs going forward.
“We did pay rent and our legal remedy for not paying rent and getting that money back was to exercise our rights under the lease,” she said. “And, that’s really important, to protect the district and the city. The ongoing conversations are encouraging. I think the question to the committee is, what is an acceptable timeline.”