Middle-Schoolers Sent Home Early In Concord

CONCORD, NH — Rundlett Middle School students were dismissed from classes early on Monday due to a heating issue in the building.

Heating issues at the school were discovered first thing on Monday. Matt Cashman, the director of facilities and planning for the district, said the school has two boilers heated by natural gas. They work in tandem and there were no problems during the weekend. However, on Monday, both were down.

Crews were working to restore heat for a number of hours — including an outside contractor who was brought in, he said.

Paulette Fitzgerald, the principal of the school, informed parents around 9:30 a.m. they were hoping to have heat back on by 11 a.m.

“We are encouraging all students to keep their coats on until the building warms up,” she said. “We will keep everyone apprised of the situation.”

It was around 45 degrees inside of the school.

An hour later, Fitzgerald informed parents it was in the best interest of students to close the school. The district began organizing buses around 10:30 a.m. and informed parents that children would be sent home beginning at 11 a.m.

School Superintendent Kathleen Murphy said officials were hoping heat would be restored quickly, which is why students were kept in classes. Later though, she decided to send students home. Murphy said due to the age of most of the building, it is not as well insulated as it should be.

“(The school) is in desperate need of an overhaul,” she said.

Cashman said the issue was the natural gas line which regulates the flow of gas into the igniters of the boilers had congealed. The two boilers were converted to natural gas in 2018 after the Concord Steam bankruptcy forced the district to convert a number of the SAU 8 buildings.

The contractors were able to get heat restored to the building later in the day on Monday. Cashman said he would be back at the school to check the work and expected classes would be in session, like usual, on Tuesday.

Around 11:15 a.m., Concord police were sent to Styles Drive on the east side of the city for a report of an accident involving a school bus.

The bus, according to scanner chatter, had about two dozen students on board but no one was injured. The accident involved the bus and a Nissan Juke.

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