Plum School Officials Take Steps to Fix a High School Transformer

Plum School Board held an emergency meeting Wednesday night to take action needed to fix a high school transformer.

A storm on Friday, June 10, disabled one of the five transformers in the school. Power outages swept throughout the borough, and when officials tried to reset the transformer, they were unsuccessful, said Superintendent Lillian Naccarati.

Currently, there is no electricity in the "T wing" of the school. Phone and Internet service also is down.

Because the food service department falls in that area, food service Director Maryann Lazzaro said food in the refrigerator has been chilled with dry ice—about 560 pounds a day.

The food was scheduled to be transported to Allegheny Cold storage in Lawrenceville today.

Students had finished the school year the day before the storm.

"Our saving grace is that is happened after the school year ended," Naccarati said.

The 13,000-pound transformer will be transported to Sharon, Pa., next Tuesday, where it will be determined if it can be fixed.

Naccarati said officials won't know if the transformer can be fixed or if it will need to be replaced—or even the cost—until Thursday of next week.

"We hope to find out sooner rather than later," she said.

Because of the emergency nature of the situation, officials agreed to apply to the state Department of Education for authorization to proceed with repairs to the transformer without soliciting bids for the work.

District business manager Eugene Marraccini said the district has filed an insurance claim.

Michael Gleason, a representative for district insurance carrier Gleason Insurance, said the district most likely would be financially responsible only for a $2,500 deductible. The rest should be covered.

Gleason said the district also has $50,000 in food spoilage coverage.

"It looks like there's going to be no issue in coverage," he said. "I don't anticipate any problems with it."

Marraccini said officials are running generators and trying to get a portable transmitter in the building in the meantime.