From John Witt, Former MHS
Maintenance & Custodial Supervisor
Monroe
To the Editor:
The high school building is in dire straits, and quite frankly, has been for quite some time. No amount of repairs will make this building work. It is time to build a new school on a whole new site.
Several people have asked me, “do we really need a new High School?” The answer to that question is an emphatic YES! The current high school, including what was built in 1999-2000, is beyond saving. The main culprit — rainwater. It’s not the only issue but it’s the major one. The high school has water in, around and under it in numerous locations throughout the building, including parts of what was built in 1999-2000.
For those of you who are homeowners, would you continue to let rainwater come down a downspout without being tied to a storm drain system or kickouts to get it away from your home with a grading system that slopes away from your home? Of course you wouldn’t — it would be a disaster for your foundation. Well this is what’s been going on at the high school with the original build out, especially the north wall up by the arch, since it was built.
There are numerous locations in the building where the fill underneath the floor has settled; this includes the new structure from 2000 and obviously parts of the original build out. One of the floors of the new structure in room R16 settled within a year or two of the build out from 2000; it really has not moved since then but was never repaired either.
In the Commons area, there is a portion of the floor where the fill underneath has settled so it’s basically a suspended floor.
When we had heavy rains and the storm sewer system got backed up, that water would bubble over the top of that pipe and then water infiltrated underneath the floor and, overtime, settled the rock and gravel underneath the concrete floor.
It would be so costly to repair and fix everything that’s wrong with this current high school that it would not make any financial sense to our taxpayers. We need a new high school, that’s a fact. We need a new high school just to have a safe place for our students and staff. Vote YES to a new high school on a new site on November 8!
