Bedford High school was built in 1924, making the building almost one hundred years old. During a building tour as well as a presentation to the public, school administration explained the different issues the building is experiencing and how detrimental it is to the learning capacity of students.
“There are major plumbing issues in the building and once you start that project it’s going to be a significant project to fix it, Heating and cooling has been a significant issue. Our HVAC system is outdated which causes some issue with moisture in the building. Inconsistent heating and cooling and handicap accessibility.”
During the public comment portion of the meeting some people expressed their concerns about the building project raising taxes on a community that they termed “retired and on a fixed income.” However, students from the school disagree.
“Our building is old, and we need to have a good HVAC system and we need to have a good foundation is what it’s really all about, Our roofs are leaking, our heating isn’t working, there’s obviously mold in the building and without a good foundation there isn’t a good foundation for learning This isn’t a question of how much this will raise my taxes. It’s a question about how much you care about students in this school. How much you care about their ability to learn without the building crumbling around them.”
The public also raised points about the building project impacting the future of Bedford.
“If you don’t invest in your future, you don’t have a future, Right now, Bedford High School and the community is not going to be investing in their students if they don’t pursue this renovation as soon as possible Bedford really is an amazing community and so many of the students here want to come back and give back to that community but I can promise you that none of these students will come back and give back to the community if the community doesn’t give back to them when they need it most.”
Bedford High School will continue the planning phase of their building project along with public feedback.