North Stonington — Emergency showers that don't drain, rooms that can't be heated properly, and windows built with hazardous materials are all problems that must be fixed in the town's schools, said members of the school administration and Ad Hoc School Building committee on a tour of the town's three school facilities last week.

Standing in an eighth-grade science classroom in Wheeler Middle School, Superintendent Peter Nero pointed to the emergency chemical shower, located above the teacher's chair.

"When this drains, it drains onto the floor. You've really got (potential) wastewater of a chemical nature on the floor. You also have electricity in three or four different spots here," he said, pointing to areas in the corner where the teacher's desk stood.

"This was supposed to be a temporary fix," he added.

The condition of science labs were one of the criticisms in last year's New England Association of Schools and Colleges report about Wheeler Middle/High School.

The report stated that "(the) science labs and equipment in their current state will increasingly limit science teachers' ability to carry out labs and group investigations, and longstanding concerns exist."

"We can do the book work with the kids, and they'll do well on the test, but the actual experimentation doesn't happen," Nero said.

The middle school labs lack sinks and gas hookups for experiments that require a flame, and the square footage limits the class size, barring some students from taking classes.

Heating and cooling systems are also a design challenge, and were one of the reasons why the committee chose not to renovate the middle school.

Architect Rusty Malik explained that when the middle school building was originally designed, the architects chose very low ceilings in order to save on heating costs.

"Because of all the new requirements for HVAC systems in buildings, you can't build down, you have to build up," Nero said, adding that raising the ceilings to accomodate those systems would be expensive in the middle school.

Leaky windows that were constructed decades ago with hazardous materials also pose a challenge. In the elementary school and the 1960 section of Wheeler Middle/High school, the window caulking has tested positive for polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs.

"We have to be careful when we open or close the windows," Nero said.

Teachers and students at the elementary school work in rooms that quickly lose heat or become too hot when the system is running, officials said.

The administration has come up with a few creative solutions to improve heat retention in the high school and elementary school, including building makeshift wooden frames overlaying the windows and sandwiching layers of plastic between them. A winding crack in the wall of the middle/high school also has a poster partially covering it.

Space and transportation concerns are a problem in all three buildings.

The tunnel connecting the schools under Route 2, long a safety concern, also requires the school to bus disabled students back and forth from the gymatorium building for classes like band.

Space concerns are primarily due to a lack of storage and small classrooms, but also scheduling concerns as well.

The elementary school's multipurpose room hosts physical education class, several lunch periods and band practice throughout the day. The band will often practice at the same time as lunch. Physical education classes cease as custodians prepare the room for lunch.

"You've got issues of sanitation ... with the new (physical education) requirements and health requirements, it just doesn't make sense anymore," Nero said.

Mike Urgo of the Ad Hoc School Building Committee also met with faculty at Wheeler Middle/High School last week to get their input on the proposed renovation project.

n.lynch@theday.com

@_nathanlynch