Central Middle School expected to be clear by Feb. 22
GREENWICH — Just days after Central Middle School was deemed unsafe and closed for repairs, Greenwich Public Schools announced a return-tocampus goal of Feb. 22 in an update sent to families and staff Tuesday evening.
“As our facilities department continues to have constant dialogue with our engineers, we remain optimistic that their solutions and safety precautions will allow the Town of Greenwich Division of Building Inspection to provide a safety clearance for everyone to return to the building following Winter Recess,” Superintendent Toni Jones and Central Middle School Principal Thomas Healy said in an email.
The decision to shutter the building came Feb. 4, two days after Diversified Technology Consultants delivered its report on the building’s structural integrity. The report found “significant structural concerns” in the walls, internal water damage and standards and system that do not meet the state’s building codes.
On Monday, Central’s 540 students were sent to other schools for classes — sixth graders to Cos Cob, seventh graders to Eastern and eighth graders to Greenwich High.
CMS students are spending the week at other school sites. Photos on social media showed welcome banners and balloons for the displaced kids.
The district has not released the repair recommendations from Cory Attra of Diversified Technology Consultants, who served as chief engineer during the recent systems evaluation of Central. He delivered an update to the district Monday, but few details were shared beyond the Feb. 22 goal.
Next week is winter break for the entire school district, with students scheduled to return the Tuesday after Presidents Day.
The main issue the district must address is failing wall ties that brought enough uncertainty to town inspectors that they closed the building, which was originally constructed in 1958. The wall ties connect the interior wall to the exterior wall, and the design did not allot for redundancy, or a fallback for some ties if others fail, according to the report from Diversified Technology Consultants.
The wall ties are rusting and failing, the report said. A system of wall ties failing could lead to a wall losing its structural integrity.
The Board of Education’s proposed capital budget for 2022-23 included $2.97 million for exterior masonry. School board officials presented its proposed budget last Thursday to the Board of Estimate & Taxation — before CMS was deemed unsafe by town inspectors.