Windows at Boston high school remain under construction as classes begin
The English High School in Boston's Jamaica Plain neighborhood remains partially under construction as it undergoes window replacements across the building. It means, when students come back to school on Thursday they were met with boarded up windows on large parts of the building.
"A post-apocalyptic feeling, a little bit as well, I would say," joked Peter Fitzgerald, who has nephews in the school district. "I think things will expedite now that kids are going back to school. I wouldn't be thrilled to see them going back to school, first day, first week, with no light, no windows and things like that."
The more than $11 million window replacement project is part of the Massachusetts School Building Authority's accelerated repair program. To be eligible, the windows have to be more than 30 years old.
"They have done some progress on the top floors, but I didn't notice until just now that the bottom floors are now boarded up," said Brendan Chapman, a neighbor who has seen the work begin for weeks while wondering when it will be done. "I just assumed that they would have started it sooner than just waited for this to happen. Why isn't it done yet?"
First phase "nearly complete"
In a statement, a Boston Public Schools spokesperson said the first phase of work to replace the windows at English High School is nearly complete. The spokesperson said that the boards were removed from the classroom windows on Wednesday.
"For the first day of school, every classroom will feature new windows, and all learning spaces will have natural light," the BPS spokesperson said. "A small number of window replacements in certain classrooms and shared spaces will be completed later this fall; therefore, temporary plexiglass and plywood have been installed in those areas to ensure safety and natural light. We are excited for our students to return."
In a statement, Boston Teachers Union President Erik Berg said, "We're pleased that BPS is investing in our school buildings. New operable windows are better for our students and staff and this upgrade will bring better learning conditions for our students and better working conditions for our staff."
The school spokesperson said that because of the delays in the window manufacturing, there have been temporary installations in some areas where the windows are not yet complete.
Classrooms were prioritized and received new windows, the city said, and the remaining windows in shared spaces such as the library, cafeteria and stairwells, are scheduled to be finished in the fall.