Window replacement planned for Yarmouth high school next week

Originally it had been hoped the installation and repair would take place, or at least get started, last month. This was after a plan to replace the windows over the summer fell through.

Now the proposed schedule is to replace the windows in the building’s 1988 wing next week.

“The installation is to start Oct. 23 with a completion date of Oct. 27,� says Steven Stoddart, the school board’s director of operations.

He says the company hired to do the work, South Shore Glass, was expected to receive the materials this week and would be doing part of the assembly of the windows at their own site before coming to Yarmouth.

Meanwhile a new set of the windows has already been installed in the wing.

“These are what you call awning windows,� says Stoddart. “They don’t lift up and down, they tip out on an angle.�

The window replacement will take place outside of school hours so classroom instruction time is not affected. The exception would be if a classroom is empty during the school day.

The safety of the windows in the high school building has been a concern over the years, with both students and staff being injured when the windows have abruptly fallen on the hands of those opening them.

Since last spring staff and students have been forbidden from opening the windows themselves. The school board, with approval from the Department of Education, hired an individual whose job has been to open and close the windows in the school. Stoddart says the situation has been working well.

The windows that are to be repaired in the rest of the building will be fixed with the installation of a double sash balance, which will prevent the windows from dropping unexpectedly.

As for the latest delay in doing the work, Stoddart believes it had to do with the delivery of materials to South Shore Glass.