WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — For the second time this fall, Williamstown Elementary School is closed for the day due to an issue with the heating system.
Shortly before 7 a.m. on Monday morning, the district used its "robocall" notification system to inform families of the closure.
Superintendent Douglas Dias said later in the morning that a leak in the school's primary boiler caused it to shut down over the weekend.
"Fortunately, the damage was contained to the boiler room itself, but the heat was off and there was no hot water," Dias said. "Considering the fact that the building was cool and not conducive to learning, we decided to play it safe."
Dias said that the building's custodian checked in on the boiler on Friday of the four-day Thanksgiving weekend and found it to be operating normally.
When the custodian arrived on Monday at 5 a.m., he discovered the problem.
Dias said that a backup boiler - known to be problematic - did not automatically kick in when the primary unit failed. He did not yet know the reason why the backup did not engage.
"The one that was fully functional, which is all we need, that was the one that sprung a leak," Dias said.
Dias said was at the school early Monday morning along with Principal Joelle Brookner and Mount Greylock Regional School Facilities Supervisor Jesse Wirtes, who came to assist. WES, Mount Greylock and Lanesborough Elementary share central administrative services, including the superintendent, under an arrangement known as the Tri-District.
The other two schools opened on schedule Monday morning.
Dias said Monday it is likely that pupils at WES -- with two heating-related closures so far this year -- will be in school two days longer than their counterparts in June, when schools make up emergency closure days, like snow days.
"Right now, I'm concerned about every day we miss out of school," Dias said. "[The calendars] are out of sync. At the moment, that's just the way life is. It is highly unlikely the other two schools would be closed and WES would be open [between now and the end of the school year].
"We have to play the hand we're dealt."
Dias said plumbers were on the scene Monday morning making repairs, and he anticipated a normal school day on Tuesday.
In October, WES was closed for one day after a leak was discovered in the pipes that carry heat through the facility.
Coincidentally, both closures created five-day weekends for pupils. The October closure was on the Thursday before a previously scheduled four-day weekend; WES was closed for pupils on Friday, Oct. 9, for a full day of professional development for staff.
Monday's closure extended the Thanksgiving weekend by an extra day.
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Williams Seeking Town Approval for New Indoor Practice Facility
By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Planning Board last week gave Williams College the first approval it needs to build a 55,000-square foot indoor athletic facility on the north side of its campus.
Over the strenuous objection of a Southworth Street resident, the board found that the college's plan for a "multipurpose recreation center" or MRC off Stetson Road has adequate on-site parking to accommodate its use as an indoor practice facility to replace Towne Field House, which has been out of commission since last spring and was demolished this winter.
The college plans a pre-engineered metal that includes a 200-meter track ringing several tennis courts, storage for teams, restrooms, showers and a training room. The athletic surface also would be used as winter practice space for the school's softball and baseball teams, who, like tennis and indoor track, used to use the field house off Latham Street.
Since the planned structure is in the watershed of Eph's Pond, the college will be before the Conservation Commission with the project.
It also will be before the Zoning Board of Appeals, on Thursday, for a Development Plan Review and relief from the town bylaw limiting buildings to 35 feet in height. The new structure is designed to have a maximum height of 53 1/2 feet and an average roof height of 47 feet.
The additional height is needed for two reasons: to meet the NCAA requirement for clearance above center court on a competitive tennis surface (35 feet) and to include, on one side, a climbing wall, an element also lost when Towne Field House was razed.
The Planning Board had a few issues to resolve at its March 12 meeting. The most heavily discussed involved the parking determination for a use not listed in the town's zoning bylaws and a decision on whether access from town roads to the building site in the middle of Williams' campus was "functionally equivalent" to the access that would be required under the town's subdivision rules and regulations.
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