Gillette Road Middle School, North Syracuse
/ Courtesy: Alex Dunbar
NORTH SYRACUSE -- Parents will get a chance to learn more on Friday about problems with building renovations at a North Syracuse middle school.
District leaders say they were recently told exterior walls at Gillette Road Middle School were improperly installed six years ago, forcing them to make changes now.
Officials say Mossien Associates Architects, P.C., the district's architectural firm, informed them on August 19th that because of the improperly installed exterior walls, there's the potential for the safety glass to become unstable in specific areas of the building. Officials say that could happen with winds in excess of 75 miles per hour.
The district contacted the New York State Education Department and determined the building is safe for occupancy. We're told there is no immediate danger, but the district is taking these steps as a precaution:
- Developed a high wind monitoring plan, which was approved by the State Education Department. The plan calls for students to be relocated or dismissed upon notification that wind speeds are expected to be equal to or greater than 50 mph.
- Letters were mailed to parents on August 31 informing them about informational meetings
- A staff meeting was held on September 1
- Developed a plan with its architectural firm and submitted it to the State Education Department for approval to correct the improper exterior wall installation
This is not expected to affect the start of school next week.
"The District has worked diligently to keep the Board informed regarding the misconstruction at Gillette Road Middle School, their safety plan and how the situation will be corrected so that our students can continue learning in the safest environment possible," said Pat Carbone, Board of Education President.
Informational meetings will be held in the auditorium of Gillette Road Middle School on Friday, September 2nd at 2:00 p.m. and Tuesday, September 6th at 7:00 p.m.
