Hawley School Boiler Decommissioned

By Eliza Hallabeck

One of two boilers in Hawley Elementary School’s 1921 section of the building is now decommissioned after a leak pushed the boiler to fail on March 18, as announced during a Legislative Council Education Subcommittee meeting on Monday, March 29, by Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson.

“We have all discussed that the boiler was ready to go,” said Dr Robinson to the education subcommittee, “and this one did.”

The situation is not an emergency, according to Dr Robinson, adding the students are safe. The good news, she said, is the boiler failed while weather is warm. Bids are expected to go out for its replacement shortly.

The 1992 boiler was a redundant backup to its neighbor, a 1948 boiler.

“It is the one boiler in the building that could fail because it has a backup,” said Board of Education member William Hart on Monday.

The issue was also brought up at the Board of Education’s Facilities Subcommittee on Wednesday, March 31, after Mr Hart announced he is working on a website, www.learninginnewtown.com, that will eventually house all facility information for the school district.

Now the website holds photos and documentation the subcommittee has started to compile, including a photo of the 1992 boiler leak taken a week before it caused the boiler to fail.

Until March 18, Dr Robinson said at the facility subcommittee meeting, the leak was being monitored, but was not a major concern.

“It’s a piece of machinery,” said Director of Facilities Gino Faiella. “Machinery breaks.”

Mr Faiella said leaks in boilers can take a long time to spread and work in the process, but the Hawley boiler’s leak spread quickly.

Dr Robinson said one of the things that will be looked into is whether there is enough money in the current facilities emergency funds, or if the burden of purchasing a new boiler will be shared with next year’s fund.

If the 1948 boiler goes, Dr Robinson said it would interfere with running the school.

Mr Hart said if the 1992 boiler situation is not fixed, it will not be a problem until winter.

For more information on Mr Hart’s website and on the Board of Education Facilities Subcommittee meeting see next week’s edition of The Bee.