Schools of the '50s are showing their age

WELLESLEY -- There are mysterious stains on the ceiling at the Fiske Elementary School, spongy floors at Hardy Elementary, cracks in the walls at Hunnewell, a high likelihood of lead in the water at Upham, and there's no library at Schofield.

These grade schools are all in Wellesley, but a collection of similarly afflicted schools could probably be found in many other districts in the nation. The elementary schools built in the 1950s and '60s for the baby boomers are, like their original students, showing their age.

The average age of a public school in the Northeast is 46, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Five of Wellesley's seven elementary schools have had major additions but never been renovated. They range from the 42-year-old Schofield to the 81-year-old Hardy.

The five schools just got their report cards, which were prepared by the architectural planning firm of Symmes Maini & McKee Associates.

While noting that the buildings have been kept in good repair by custodial staff, the study recorded numerous instances of leaky roofs, worn carpets, poor ventilation, dim lighting, plumbing that could allow lead in drinking water, and little or no accessibility for students in wheelchairs. (The full report is available online at www.wellesley.mec.edu. Click on ''District Info," then ''Building Projects.")

Then there is the problem of overcrowding. Growing enrollments have forced the Fiske and Schofield to turn their art and music rooms into classrooms and the Schofield to convert its library into classroom space. Superintendent Matthew J. King has recommended buying seven modular classrooms as a short-term solution, but the town is projecting continued enrollment increases through at least 2010.

The architectural firm's report was presented over the course of two School Committee meetings this month. It recommended four options. The cheapest, at $56.5 million, calls for renovating the buildings to extend their useful life by 20 years; the most expensive, at $110 million, calls for replacing the oldest school, the Hardy, and renovating the other four to extend their usefulness by 40 to 50 years.

For now the School Committee has put off a decision while it focuses on what to do about the 67-year-old high school. The cost of renovating or replacing it ranges from $26 million to $146 million.

''In part it is a political decision," the School Committee chairwoman, Susan Jablonski, said Wednesday. ''But we believe that we are being appropriate stewards of elementary buildings by maintaining them and upgrading them with a five-year capital plan and then working further on a long-term plan."

Jablonski expressed confidence that the schools are safe and, unlike the high school, sufficient to accommodate curriculum needs. Older schools are exempt from many disability access requirements, she said.

As part of daily maintenance, custodians run water through drinking fountains before students arrive to flush out contaminants. In addition, the town regularly tests the water for lead. In its five-year capital budget plan, the School Committee is requesting money for more urgent concerns such as fixing leaky roofs.

While in the current budget climate it may be unrealistic to expect voters to approve a costly overhaul to bring the grade schools up to today's standards and codes, delay could have its perils. For example, air-quality issues have triggered lawsuits against public schools around the country. In Brownsville, Texas, concern about mold forced the relocation of 3,200 students into temporary classrooms for several months during a multimillion-dollar cleanup.

Wellesley is already replacing carpets in the schools with tile. But as it does so, it is encountering the added expense of removing asbestos that had been installed before the material's health problems became known.

Asbestos is in the ceilings of schools, too, which becomes an issue when crews need to repair roof leaks.

Fixing one problem can lead to another. For example, parents offered to raise money to replace the dim lighting in the hallways at Fiske but were told they couldn't touch the fixtures because that would disturb the asbestos in the ceiling, said Trina Foster, president of the Parent-Teacher Organization.

The architectural report indicated that the Fiske roof leaks frequently. Replacing the roof would cost nearly $600,000, with $160,000 more required to replace ceiling and light fixtures and address the asbestos, according to Dana Cotto, director of buildings and grounds for the School Department.

The school has other problems as well. On a tour, Foster pointed out a wet ceiling tile in a corner of the cafeteria, which a custodian attributed to an upstairs bathroom leak. The architectural report described the school's plumbing as ''very corroded."

While Schofield has had its share of pipes bursting, its main issue is overcrowding, said Allison Parker, immediate past president of the school's PTO. Parker noted that half the library has been turned into classroom space to accommodate increasing enrollment. Now the library -- in the form of rolling book carts -- goes to the students. So, too, do the art and music programs, whose teachers used to have their own rooms before they were converted for general class use.

Students ''almost never leave their class," said Parker, ''and that's a different kind of experience than is beneficial for active, elementary school kids."

The school panel is expected to begin discussing the building recommendations next month.