12 classrooms among parts of Lowell HS with limited heat

LOWELL, Mass. -- It’s been nearly a week since Lowell High School administrators first warned of heating issues at the school, and nearly as long since they said it was repaired.

The repairs were real, but in the ensuing cold snap problems have continued to arise leaving about a dozen classrooms with limited heat, some with none.

Students have been wearing jackets and hats to stay warm inside the school, their parents are none too happy.

“Today especially he texted me first thing in the morning and said I’m freezing. He sent a picture, 60 degrees in his classroom -- it was 39 at lunch,” Ann Draper said.

At a meeting of the Friends of Lowell High School, Head of School Marianne Busteed explained how the issue started last week.

“I️ think the biggest issue is that we went to cold weather very fast and we had some issues when we turned the boilers on and we are working through those,” she said.

The issue began to improve but then this weekend there was another problem.

“Sometimes it goes into night mode and, because we are a little behind on software updates, when night mode switches into day mode it doesn’t work correctly,” Lowell HS Facilities Director Ricky Underwood said.

In addition to the classroom, the system isn’t heating the gymnasium, locker rooms, cafeteria or library properly.

It’s the latest issue at a high school that has been plagued with maintenance problems.

“There are leaks and broken windows but there are things happening now, in Lowell we talk a lot about who is for building a new school who’s for the Cawley site and who is for the downtown site but these kids are in these conditions today,” Draper said.

The city’s DPW and a representative from the manufacturer of the heating system controls will be on hand tomorrow. The head of schools says she believes the problem will be solved in the next couple of days.

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