School staff member urges urgent repairs at Mattawan Valley, citing extreme temperatures, plumbing failures and arsenic near state limit

A school staff member who did not give her name described deteriorating infrastructure at Mattawan Valley and urged the district to pursue repairs or replacement that exceed the scope of current capital funding.

The staff member said some classrooms “were running 80 and 85°,” while others pump cold air, forcing students and staff to bring blankets. “They carry them around all day so that they can wrap up and be warm,” she said, framing the temperature swings as a daily barrier to learning.

She told the meeting the building lacks adequate electrical capacity so that, in her words, “kitchen staff wrote a grant and bought some cooking equipment, and they can't run it because it trips the circuit breakers.” The speaker said the building’s original HVAC and ventilation equipment is at end of life and that unit ventilators “draw a direct air, cold air into the building without it being treated,” leaving some rooms uncomfortably cold on winter days.

On plumbing, the staff member said the school installed a new septic system but the cistern’s capacity is insufficient for large events. She described toilets that stop flushing during public events or after lunch and quoted her announcement over the intercom: “Just give the water system about 15 minutes, folks, and it will come back on, and we will be able to flush the toilets.”

The speaker also raised a water-safety concern: “We are very close to the state threshold for arsenic in our water. Like, 0.1 is the limit. We're consistently at 0.098,” she said, and asked for arsenic treatment to keep student water safe.

She said the district has done well organizing smaller projects that fit budgets and take advantage of energy-savings rebates, but added this building’s age, failing systems and ventilation shortfalls make the required work “too large for the district budget to handle.” She appealed to the community’s sense of pride in the school, saying students asked that “the building look how the teachers make us feel.”

The speaker concluded by stressing the emotional stakes: after 25 years in education, she said she cares about the building and “the people who are bringing their kids here because I know that they struggle.” She urged action to improve safety, comfort and the school’s appearance so students can move forward with their futures.

The transcript does not record a formal motion, cost estimate, specific renovation plan, or which decision-making body will act next.