SALEM — Treasurer Mike Douglas discussed a recent heating issue at the Junior/Senior High School in the board of education’s meeting Monday.

Douglas said that the heating issue which caused the cancellation of in-person classes for the Junior/Senior High School on Feb. 4 and 5 was caused by a leak in an exterior gas line. When that line was dug up, it was determined that the line had to be replaced, a process which ultimately took two days as crews worked through the night and the following day to restore heat.

“After we determined the gas line had some odor coming out of it, we killed the main gas to the building that day. Students did remain in the building because it was outside in the parking lot. There was no danger to any of the students at that time as Columbia Gas was here monitoring the levels and it dissipated really quickly after we shut the gas off,” said Douglas.

While repairs were being made, propane heaters were deployed around the building to help “keep the building up to temperature” and prevent water lines from freezing in the extreme cold. The heaters were also used to help bring the building back to occupancy temperature once the furnace was turned back on. 

Douglas said that the heaters were also on for “about half a day” when students returned to in-person classes on Feb. 6. He said that while there were discussions of students feeling unwell when they returned on social media, the building had been inspected multiple times to ensure there were no issues.

“I know there has been some talk of some students potentially feeling ill. We did have the fire department and the health department come into the building on multiple occasions the week following the repairs,” said Douglas. “They walked the building with their monitors and checked all areas and found that there were no issues within the building. There was no detection of gas anywhere in the building. It was probably just some anomalies that kids were not feeling well at the same time, but the building has been cleared of any issues and anything going forward.”

The board of education will meet next at 7 p.m. on March 16.