As the renovated Trumbull High School's opening day approaches, there have been some jitters, putting owner's representative Al Barbarotta in the hotseat earlier this week.
Barbarotta and his colleague John Barbarotta, addressed the Board of Education Tuesday night.
"When I went there, I had my doubts," said board member Vice Chair Deborah Herbst.
She reported seeing wires hanging, missing ceiling tiles and an uncovered pipe in the floor. There were still old doors and old furniture. Some items were piled in the courtyard.
There were concerns that teachers would not be allowed into their classrooms before Monday so they might not be able to effectively teach.
Herbst, a retired Milford educator, acknowledged that the school construction is difficult for teachers.
Al Barbarotta responded that, "We are concerned."
But he said asbestos abatement was complete.
"There are no asbestos issues. There is no lead work. There are no mold issues," he said.
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Cleaning needs to be completed before the new HVAC system can be run. Barbarotta said he could get as many cleaning personnel as he wants to have the school ready.
He added that some parts of the job need approval from the Health District and the Fire Marshal's office. The alarm systems also need testing.
"We will make it to open it Monday morning," Barbarotta said.
Schools Supt. Ralph Iassogna said he would not allow students to enter the school without being confident in its condition. He noted that his granddaughter will be attending the school this year.
He added that his backup plan is to stall the opening until after Labor Day. He didn't want to do that because it would make the last day of school by a week later as well.
Currently, Iassogna is staggering the high school's hours for the first week to handle the building construction.
Parent Cindy Penkoff said the district should take the extra week and open later rather than pushing for Aug. 27, especially since THS now has an improved HVAC system to handle the hot weather in June.
On Facebook, Town Councilwoman Ann Marie Evangelista said: "Workers in HS through Sunday night (cleaning?), teachers will be allowed into school Monday morning same time as students. No boxes will be unpacked, no supplies organized. How clean and organized do you really think that school is going to be? We can close school for 1/4" of snow (or no snow) on the ground, but can't close the school for one day to make sure everything is organized."
Other Trumbull schools' schedules remain on track.
