Bedford City board: high school remains closed as district works on power, fire-alarm and heating repairs

Bedford City Board of Education officials said the district’s high school will remain closed while contractors diagnose and repair a series of electrical and mechanical failures.

The Executive Director of Operations told the board the school experienced repeated partial and expanded power outages caused by internal transformers, fuses and an aging electrical system. "They were at the beginning, partial power outages, and those grew in scope," the director said, and vendors including the utility (CEI) and multiple contractors have been on site. A generator has been powering phase‑3 systems such as boilers and air handlers while repairs continue.

Board members were told the fire-alarm system has been tested but is not yet at the standard required to reopen. "We are planning to retest the system with the fire chief in the morning," the director said. Work includes installing a new motor on an air handler and other repairs intended to bring temperatures back to required levels. The director said the work is complex because components can be called on or off depending on building use, and that diagnostics are ongoing.

Addressing concerns about diesel heaters and generator use, operations staff said the building commissioner and fire chief indicated the building could be operated with the current generator configuration only if carbon-monoxide testing were in place; the district said it does not plan to have students or staff in the building while generators are running. "We do not anticipate doing that," the director said, adding that carbon-monoxide testing would be required as a precaution.

Board members and the superintendent also said a formal operational plan will be discussed in executive session and that any steps affecting working conditions or synchronous online learning would require agreement with BEA (the teachers’ bargaining unit) and possible MOUs before being implemented. The superintendent said certain provisions in contracts and the BEA process restrict immediate unilateral actions.

The board announced that the high school "will not be ready" on the following day while diagnostics and fire-alarm retesting continue. The district scheduled additional vendor work and a fire-department retest to determine next steps.