Charles M. Sumner Students and Teachers Forced to Begin Another Week of Remote Learning

Unfortunately students and teachers at the Charles M. Sumner Learning Campus in Sullivan will be forced to begin another week of remote learning on Monday, October 17th.

In a letter sent to parents and guardians, Superintendent Michael Eastman expressed his frustration at the process. The hold up now seems to be in the Fire Marshall's Office and ith the General Contractor Nickerson O'Day, as they (the Fire Marshall's Office) is waiting for calculations regarding the holding tank for the sprinkler system. The failure to get the calculations is holding up the approval of the "remediation plan" and without that, a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy can't be issued.

Here is the letter sent home

Dear Parent/Guardian,

The purpose of this letter is to provide an update regarding the new building.  The design plan for the water sprinkler solution is continuing to be reviewed by the Maine State Fire Marshal’s Office. I reached out to the Fire Marshal’s office on Tuesday to get an updated timeline for a final decision on the design but have not received any response.  Since it is Friday and I still haven’t heard anything, I reached out to Nickerson O’Day (our general contractor) and they indicated that the Fire Marshal’s office is seeking specific tank calculations.  Nickerson O’Day indicated that the calculations would not be completed today.  Without the calculations, the Fire Marshal’s Office will not approve the plan.  If the Fire Marshal will not approve the plan, the Sullivan Code Enforcement Officer (Mike Gurtler) will not provide a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy.  Without this certificate, we will not be able to bring our students into the new school.

This begs lots of questions and brings about a great deal of frustration.  I will not put on paper how frustrated I am with the process as our attorney would advise against it.  Suffice to say, I am speechless and dismayed that our students, teachers, and families continue to be in the middle of this situation.  With that said, our students in grades 6-12 will continue with remote learning on Monday, October 17th.

I will continue to work with the many stakeholders involved to get our students in the building as soon as possible.   I will update you as soon as I have more information to pass along.  As always, please feel free to contact me at meastman@rsu24.org with any questions.  Your patience and understanding are greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,
Michael Eastman, Superintendent

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