Only a few years after being built, the swimming pool at Oxford High School needs major help, school officials say — work that could cost taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars.
Interim Superintendent of Schools James A. Connelly told Board of Education members at last week’s meeting that there have been a number of complaints from parents and pool patrons, ranging from deteriorating bathing-suit linings to chronic ear infections.
The pool’s chemistry seems to be off, Connelly said, and there have been mechanical problems, including a compressor that needs to be replaced.
onnelly and Oxford High School Principal Frank Savo Jr. said the board will probably need to hire an outside service company to help keep the pool’s water healthy. Connelly said he hadn’t yet explored the cost of that, but he guessed it could run about $35,000 to $50,000 per year.
The overall bill will be higher: Even though the broken compressor is under warranty, the school will have to pay for the installation of the replacement, Savo said.
What impact the pool troubles will have on the district’s budge is unclear. At Tuesday’s meeting, interim business manager Arthur Poole warned that the board is operating on a very thin margin of surplus for the district’s $25 million annual budget.
There has been confusion about exactly how much the pool costs. For example, Poole said the board had been told by previous managers that the school’s high propane bill was because of the pool heater, when the heat is in fact electric.
Connelly said the problems are largely due to mistakes made when the high school was built.
“I don’t think enough provisions were made to maintain it from an operational point of view,” he said. “I don’t think there ever was a good, strong pool management structure in place here.”
Savo said the school’s custodians — three at night and one during the day — aren’t able to keep up with the maintenance.
Board of Education Chairwoman Rose McKinnon said there also have been complaints about the condition of the pool locker rooms, a problem Savo acknowledged.
“There’s no time between swims” to clean up, especially in the girls’ locker room because the school has only male custodians, Savo said.
Connelly said he and Savo hope to have a plan ready by next month’s Board of Education meeting, scheduled for Dec. 7.
Connelly said he’s talking to the town’s Parks and Recreation Department about chipping in for maintenance, because “70 to 75 percent” of the pool’s use is by outsiders, not students.
“We can’t do this alone,” Connelly said. “We’re going to need help periodically.”
Some of that help may come from the Pomperaug District Department of Health, which Connelly also has enlisted to evaluate the pool.
“Quite frankly, they thought they would have been called in a long time ago,” Connelly said.
