Conditions at Middle School Deteriorate as Leaking Roof Poses Hazards to Health and Safety
Water damage from leaking roof at Amherst Regional Middle School (ARMS). Photos take on February 25, 2025 by an ARMS student.
Last week, a student at the middle school was injured by debris falling from the ceiling. Though parents and educators have been expressing concerns about the health conditions at the middle school for years, including to Town Council and the School Committees, there has been unconscionable inaction. As parents, we are concerned for our children’s physical safety in the building. While the roof is apparently slated for repair in 2027, that is too far away when the reports of worsening conditions are increasing by the day.
SOS Amherst (Support Our Schools) has put together a petition requesting that the middle school have an immediate, independent assessment for the safety of the building. Please consider signing it.
Letter from the Superintendent
On March 14, 2025 Superintendent E. Xiomara Herman (Dr. Xi) sent out the following message to the school community:
Greetings Amherst, Pelham, and Regional School Communities,
I want to take a moment to address an incident that occurred at Amherst Regional Middle School, where a student reported that something fell from an open ceiling area that was missing a tile. The student sustained a minor injury, was immediately assessed by our school nurse, and their family was promptly notified. I want to express my sincere regret that this occurred and assure you that we are addressing the situation with urgency and care.
Our operations team has confirmed that the affected ceiling area had missing tiles due to active leaks from snow melt. There are a few areas like this on the second floor, but with snow melt no longer being an issue, our facilities team will conduct a full walkthrough this weekend to replace any missing or damaged tiles that could pose a risk.
In addition to these immediate steps, I want to update you on our long-term efforts to address building repairs. We have been approved for a Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) Accelerated Repair Program grant to repair the middle school roof. While we are still in the early stages of this process, a project manager and design consultant have been assigned by the MSBA, and the roof repair remains on schedule to take place in the summer of 2027.
The safety and well-being of our students and staff is my highest priority. I appreciate your trust as we work to ensure that our schools remain safe and secure environments for learning. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to my office directly at OfficeOfTheSuperintendent@ARPS.org
In partnership and care,
Dr. Xi
Superintendent, Amherst-Pelham Regional Public Schools
“…a full walkthrough this weekend to replace any missing or damaged tiles that could pose a risk.”.
If the roof is leaking, it will continue to leak until it is fixed. OK, so the snow on the roof has melted — does Amherst get downpours? (I seem to remember a few…)
So you glue up new tiles — which will absorb water the next time and ALSO FALL DOWN…. This will stop being fun quite quickly when someone gets a piece of tile in the eye.
And yes, I’m going to say this: Has anyone checked the falling tiles for asbestos?
The building is about the right age for that, so unless you know it isn’t asbestos, you have to presume it is.
And having pieces chip off and dust forming, ummm….
Fix the roof — but until then, leave the ceilings bare so that the water can drain.
Shame on town leaders (have they no shame?) who routinely ignore the health and safety of our school children, seniors, and employees who do not work out of the Town Hall, while they continue to support the 46 million + demolition and gross expansion plan for the Jones Library. Their actions (or inactions) fly in the face of any lip service they offer about what they value. A reset of their priorities is long overdue. Amherst needs to return to of the people for the people…
I’m glad the superintendent is paying attention to a common problem in our schools. Town administrations have decided to let the schools deteriorate and then build $100,000,000 new buildings without a plan to maintain them. Community Preservation funds should be used to preserve what we have rather than build cement parks in front of town hall. Every homeowner knows you have to maintain the roof. Why can’t the town figure this out? Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan was surprised when she learned voters really wanted government to fix the roads. I feel the same way. I don’t think Amherst taking a stand on Palestine is going to help anyone but fixing a school roof helps everyone. Instead, the town lets buildings like the school on the South Common, the Hickory Ridge clubhouse, the middle school, two elementary schools and the library deteriorate because there’s an inadequate maintenance budget.
For parents of children at the middle school, it is extremely frustrating to hear Town officials suggest that we should just wait two more years for a fix becasue that is when the state funding will come through. And at the same time, during presentations at the Joint Capital Planning Committee in the last two weeks, town employees have said that water seepage is the worst thing that can happen to a building, and that the town needs funds ASAP to repair the roof at Town Hall. The conditions at the middle school are unacceptable at this point and we can’t wait two more years for a fix.
The conditions at the school should, of course, be addressed ASAP (before any noncritical initiative or pet project like a new town-wide street lighting scheme). A known water problem in any structure should be “fixed” by the owner. However, I can’t imagine that the water seepage issue in Town Hall can even come close to the water pouring from ceilings through light fixtures, down walls past electrical outlets, and puddling under the feet of DPW employees, or the black mold long rampant in their headquarters.