Town Meeting voted on Tuesday, April 25 to give $7.5 million to the Middle School so that it can replace its leaking roof. 

“The roof has, at this point, essentially failed,” Wareham Public Schools Superintendent Matthew D’Andrea said. 

In several areas of the building, D’Andrea said, the school is suffering water damage from the leaking roof. 

The construction, which is planned to begin and end in the summer of 2024, is currently in Phase Two. D’Andrea expects to get reimbursed $2.2 million from the state School Building Authority, which will decrease the town’s contribution for Phase Two to $5.3 million. 

The new roof will be made of PVC, and D’Andrea is looking at the possibility of installing solar panels on not only it, but the roofs of the Elementary School and High School as well. 

Last fall’s Town Meeting voted to give $1.5 million to the Middle School for a partial roof repair.

Along with replacing the roof, D’Andrea was interested in brainstorming ways to prevent future damage. For years, the roof has been a popular place for seagulls to drop quahog shells in order to break them open. The seagulls have already contributed to a two-day closure of the Middle School for roof repair in February 2019.

Sandra Slavin suggested that the Middle School paint its roof blue, so that seagulls would think it is a body of water and not drop quahogs onto it.