When the authority approved the grants, it also green-lighted funds for renovations and an addition to Norton High School. The district will receive $21 million as a reimbursement covering 64 percent of the project’s cost. The school will add a new kitchen, cafeteria, and science classrooms, plus renovate the existing building with new windows, doors, roof, and heating system.
In Brockton, the district will receive $28 million to make repairs to Brockton High School, three middle-level schools, and four elementary schools. The high school will get a new roof and replace single-pane windows that date to 1970, when the school was built. Michael Thomas, executive director of operations for Brockton’s school system, said the old windows don’t open because the ventilation system is self-contained, supplying outside air to the school. The new windows will open and save energy, he said.
The grant for work at the high school is worth about $7 million. Other Brockton schools will receive between $1.8 million and $4.6 million, depending on the extent of their projects.
At the middle-level schools, North and East will receive new roofs and boilers, and West will receive a new roof.
Roof leaks have prevented students at North from using the auditorium for the last two years, Thomas said. All of the school’s ceremonies and concerts, including the eighth-grade recognition ceremony, had to be held elsewhere. The water damage will require about 100 feet of ceiling, a section of seats, and some of the lighting to be replaced, he said.
North also has only one working boiler out of three. They are original to the 1950s building. Workers have done their best to keep the lone boiler operating, mostly with success, Thomas said, but new boilers will be more efficient. The school will need only two to heat the building.
The East school has one boiler about six years old, and two older ones. One of the old ones is working, but it will be replaced with a more efficient unit.
The Edgar B. Davis, Oscar F. Raymond, Joseph H. Downey, and Hancock elementary schools will get new roofs, and Downey will also get new windows.
