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Millions Spent On School Renovations Include Upgrades For Security

WAMC

  To ease concerns about school shootings, millions of dollars were spent this summer on security in the second largest public school district in Massachusetts.

   Locks on exterior and interior doors in Springfield’s 60 school buildings have been upgraded and more surveillance cameras have been added.  

    Superintendent of Schools Dan Warwick said the buildings are more secure now than ever before.

   "We have invested well and I think the parents can be assured their kids will be safe," Warwick said in an interview Thursday.

    The city said a total of $45 million will be spent this new academic year on school renovations. The work includes new windows at some buildings, roof replacements, upgrades to heating systems, and complete makeovers to auditoriums and gymnasiums.

     Much of the work is being paid for the Massachusetts School Building Authority.

The record-setting tenure of Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno. The 2011 tornado and its recovery that remade the largest city in Western Massachusetts. The fallout from the deadly COVID outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers Home. Those are just a few of the thousands and thousands of stories WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill has covered for WAMC in his nearly 17 years with the station.