BURRILLVILLE – High School students were sent home at 11:45 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 22 due to heating issues in the East Avenue building, but returned to a warm school on Tuesday, according to Supt. Michael Sollitto.
The building was in the process of having new boilers installed, work that began at the end of the school year in June, according to Sollitto. The boilers were among several improvements scheduled to take place over the summer.
The superintendent said the project was expected to be completed before the start of the current school year in September, but was delayed due to engineering issues.
Last week’s cold weather prompted school officials to rent two industrial strength portable heating units that blew hot air into the building starting on Wednesday, Oct. 24.
But on Sunday, temperatures fell to 25 degrees during the night.
“Unfortunately, it is difficult for the heat to reach some areas of the building that are far from the heaters,” Sollitto said.
Classes in all other Burrillville schools continued as scheduled as did athletic activities on Monday, and Sollitto said the boilers were up and running by the end of the day.
