Seekonk High School Pool Faces Possible Closure

The pool at Seekonk High School may have to be closed due to deteriorating conditions, according to school officials.

The school department had hoped to obtain $725,000 in funding for a replacement air handling unit. Ryan McGee, the Business Administrator for the school district, said the system was dated, needs frequent maintenance, and is at the end of life.

“Without a functioning air handling unit, the pool will become unusable due to the buildup of toxic chemicals,” McGee noted.

On Monday, Superintendent Rebecca Kidwell said the Select Board did not include the pool funding on the draft warrant for the November 10 Town Meeting. However, the warrant has not yet been finalized.

“Water coming into (the high school) and heating systems coming into the building come from that wing,” Kidwell said. “This isn’t just about the pool. This is about the health of the building as a whole. There’s a whole lot of engineering involved here, so it’s not as simple as ‘just close the pool.’”

“Our swim team would not be able to use our community pool,” said School Committee Chair Robert Gerardi. “It’s not adequate for a swim team. We might have to forfeit a season.”

Kidwell believes if a “catastrophic failure” of the pool were to occur this winter, the school department would need to search for another pool to rent for the use of the swim team as well as call for a special town meeting.

“Our first step would be to see if we can take from the operating budget for a stopgap repair. Ultimately this is not a need that we can fill out of our operating budget,” Kidwell added.