NEWPORT, Vt. (WCAX) – We told you a month ago that North Country Union High School students had to start the school year learning in tents and alternate locations due to PCB contamination in the building. Now, we are learning how that’s been going.
Learning for NCUHS students like Amelia Damato looks different this year. “There are a couple more distractions than there would be in the classroom,” said Damato.
High levels of PCBs in the building forced school leaders to resort to other means of learning. They avoided online learning by setting up tents and using CCTV classrooms.
Senior Aiden Briggs says he doesn’t mind. “It’s different, I usually have a class here, and then I’ll go over to CCV and then I’ll go to a tent. It definitely gives me more freedom, I feel like, and it’s definitely geared me better for going to college next year,” said Briggs.
While the tents are equipped with some heating and fans, students will need another option once the ground begins to freeze.
Principal Chris Young says the school is waiting on the next round of PCB test results, which he expects this week. “We’re working with our state partners right now to order modular classrooms in case the building is not available,” said Young.
But Superintendent Elaine Collins says the modulars aren’t cheap, and though the state paid the initial $2.1 million for eight classrooms, Collins worries about a long-term plan.
“I’m a little concerned if and when the state says, ‘we don’t have any more money to pay for PCBs’, what does that mean for North Country High School?” said Collins.
Young says they are also waiting on guidance from the health department.
“We hope that they are going to give us some updated guidance that would allow more usage of the facility now that we’re quite a ways into the school year, and students nor staff would be exposed to potentially higher levels of PCBs as they would over the course of an entire year,” said Young.
While getting back into the high school building is preferred, for now, these students will have to continue learning like this, which they say is at least better than not being in person.
“Time out of the classroom was scary for a lot of people so to be able to come back and not be remote, it kind of geared them towards just being adaptable,” said Damato.
Questions remain on how much more money the state can invest in PCB testing and remediation and what that means for the future of North County High School. While Superintendent Collins raised concerns about it, she says she hasn’t heard anything from the state about funding ending.