A leak in the ceiling of the Marblehead High School gym forced a mid-game postponement of a boys varsity basketball match against Peabody on Monday night, the latest sign that the school’s roofing is in desperate need of repair.
Referees called a stop to the game with 3:08 left in the first quarter as water continued dripping onto the court and the leak could not be contained. Marblehead Athletic Director Greg Ceglarski was seen placing towels on the court in an attempt to keep the game going, but referees ultimately determined that continuing play would be unsafe.
The game was rescheduled for Tuesday night and moved to Peabody Veterans Memorial High School.
The replacement of the high school’s roof has been a point of emphasis for the School Committee. Last year, the committee withdrew its statement of interest from the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA), which sought out state funding to help replace the roof. The statement was withdrawn because the high school’s roof does not qualify as it is not older than 30 years, despite the urgent need for repairs.
Committee Chair Sarah Fox said that the type of roofing on the high school has been known to fail earlier, which she explained at a June 2022 Select Board meeting.
“Although we have data that shows these types of roofs have been since found to fail much sooner, the MSBA’s scoring process hasn’t caught up to that,” Fox said.
Since the withdrawal, the school district and Town have been looking into putting the roofing project out to bid.
At the committee’s most recent meeting, Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations Michelle Cresta stated that she was scheduled to meet with the Town on Friday, Jan. 5.
“We’ve been working with the Town since the spring to try and go out jointly for a bid for a project manager,” Cresta said. “Because our high-school roof is such a big project, we need to get a project manager and not just contract the project itself.”
She explained that a project manager is needed because there are plans to fix multiple school roofs at the same time. Fox mentioned last year that Veterans Middle School had a “structural issue” in the D Wing. The middle school was also listed in the committee’s statement of interest.
The Brown School has also been experiencing leaks in its roofing, which has been an issue for more than a year.
Cresta also mentioned that the process got sidetracked during the summer, but are hoping to have a project manager “within the next few months.”