GMS has many issues. The building is just plain old, and is at the end of its reasonable life expectancy, if not past it. Two independent companies conducted inspections of the building and put forth reports with many recommendations, some of which are detailed at the bottom of this page. Both reports are voluminous, each in excess of fifty typed pages; the reports are very similar in analysis and recommendation. These reports are available at the School Administrative Unit (SAU) offices. As GMS continues to age (and deteriorate), costs for repair and maintenance will undoubtedly rise, which leads to the next point...

Here is a comparison of maintenance costs for GMS and LMS over the past eleven years.

The take-away from this is that the older GMS building is costly to maintain. As seen by the numbers, it has cost just about three times more over the last eleven years to maintain GMS than it has LMS. As the buildings and its systems continue to age, these costs will continue to increase and be incurred. For the four years from the last elementary school warrant article, $493,100 has been dumped into GMS... that's almost half a million dollars... money that could have instead been going towards a new facility.

The building is designed for 401 students, however, it is over capacity at 484 students.

Grade 5 students are housed at Litchfield Middle School; they should be in an elementary, not a middle school environment. Ten year olds are on bus transportation with fourteen year olds.

The portable classrooms (trailers) at LMS house half of the grade 5 students.

These trailers do not have bathrooms, so the students must go outside to cross a roadway to get into the main building. Students must do the same to travel to the cafeteria, library, and gym class.

The existing building is not compliant with the American Disabilities Act of 1990.

Nine of the classrooms do not meet state requirements for classroom size. CORRECTED 1/30/2009: This should read: Only nine of the classrooms currently meet state requirements for classroom size (900 sq ft).

GMS has a severe ground water problem, that results in condensation collecting on floors and walls, creating unsafe conditions.

On many days, up to ninety (90) gallons of water are removed from the dehumidifiers that are throughout the building.

The continual water presence in the building necessitates bleaching the walls, floors and carpets (yes... carpets!) twice a year because of the mold and mildew from the ever-present water.

The state does not believe the water problem can be fixed, and will not provide funding unless they are resolved. As such, any additions to GMS would have to be shouldered entirely by the town.

The septic tank had to be replaced in the summer of 2005. Water being pumped out at 300 gallons per MINUTE could not keep up with the water at the site. Special experts had to be called in to assist so the project could be completed. In the end, they had to punch holes in the bottom of the new tank to get it to the bottom of the excavation.

The water running through the gounds of GMS has been likened to an underground stream.

The state has mandated that all towns must have public kindergarten by 2009. Some towns are requesting extensions, but sooner or later Litchfield will need a kindergarten.

Due to this mandate, the state will not approve any new building that does not include kindergarten. To paraphrase a department of education representative, "I would not approve a building without a third grade, why would I approve one without a kindergarten."

Litchfield is one of eleven towns in the state that does not have public kindergarten. New Hampshire is (for now) the only state in the country that does not mandate kindergarten. So, wouldn't that make Litchfield 1 of 11 towns in the entire COUNTRY?

The building does not have a sprinkler fire protection system. A frightening thought for the parents of those 484 students.

The parent drop-off is in close proximity to route 3A; traffic can back up well onto route 3A.

There is not enough storage in the school. Storage takes up room on the stage, the main office, the nurses room, and maintenance areas. The rooms that were actually designed for storage are filled to overflowing.

There are several firewalls that are compromised in the building. Some walls don't extend to the roof deck, as specified by code, and some walls have cinder blocks removed to allow the passage of cabling.

There are many instance of non-compliant wiring in the building in the form of wires that are not surrounded by a metallic sheath.

The water main comes into the building scant feet from all of the major high voltage equipment.

In the electrical maintenance area, in the midst of many high voltage panels, is a janitor sink.

The special education classrooms are in a former science lab.

The ceiling in the 1930's wing has several areas where leaks have corroded entirely through portions of the supporting metal structures.

The ceiling in the 1930's hallway is entirely exposed.

There are no areas for students to store their coats, books and backpacks. Their possessions line the hallway while school is in session. This is surely a concern that could affect access or egress to the building in an emergency situation.