On Monday, Dec. 8, the Narragansett School students and staff were evacuated to St. Anne’s Church due to a natural-gas leak. The school remained closed on Tuesday, Dec. 9 and Wednesday, Dec. 10, while the issue was being identified and resolved. Narragansett was able to reopen on Thursday, Dec. 11.
In October, the school was evacuated due to a rooftop regulator issue, which needed to be addressed before the students and staff could return to the building. This issue was resolved quickly to ensure a safe return to school for students and staff the next day.
Regarding the situation in December, Dr. Heather Perry, superintendent of schools in Gorham, stated, “Our top priority was to make sure that Narragansett Elementary School was truly safe before we allow students/staff to return. On Dec. 8, we reacted quickly to ensure that our safety protocols were in place. The school remained closed until the issue was fully resolved. Parents were kept updated every step of the way and plans for remote learning were considered to try to minimize impacts to learning if the issue were to continue.”
In her letter to parents announcing the reopening of school, the superintendent explained the problem: “The issue was ultimately traced to a pressure regulator located on the exterior corner of the green-and-blue building wing. A relief valve on the regulator was intermittently failing, which made the problem extremely difficult to detect earlier.” Once identified, the entire unit was replaced and tested extensively, to ensure a safe return to school for students and staff.
In her statement, Perry continued, “We are incredibly grateful for the quick and professional response from the Gorham Fire Department, Gorham Police Department, Maine Natural Gas, Johnson and Jordan and our own maintenance team whose expertise helped keep everyone safe.
We also want to recognize our remarkable school staff – our administrators, teachers, support staff and bus drivers – who responded with calm, care, and professionalism throughout the entire incident. And to our parents – thank you for your patience, flexibility and understanding as we navigate this situation and continue working to resolve it safely. We are truly fortunate to have such dedicated partners, staff, and families supporting our students in Gorham!”