Faulty air conditioning leads to damp dilemma

Among the many histories in US History teacher Maria Carter-Giannini’s room, another has appeared: that of the missing ceiling tile.

The missing tile is the result of a problem with the air conditioning in Carter-Giannini’s room, which was faulty.

"[The faulty air conditioner is] just like many of the air conditioning units on this level of the C Building," Carter-Giannini said. Carter-Giannini informed the janitors, who then turned it back on.  Facilities Manager Chris Kenney had an explanation.  "the lower floors of the a b and c buildings, a chiller takes the whole building on the lower floor and a boiler takes the whole floor." Kenney said. 

"When the chiller goes out, every classroom on the first floor goes out
whereas the top classrooms they have… packaged units so if one room goes out it doesn’t affect the whole building."

However, once the air conditioning turned back on, for reasons unknown it went into overdrive, filling the patch of ceiling underneath it with water.  

    When a student from Carter-Giannini’s second period class alerted her to the water dripping from the ceiling, Carter-Giannini promptly notified the janitors, who punctured a hole in the ceiling under the heater, allowing the water to drain into a big garbage can underneath. The janitors then removed the ceiling tile but have yet to replace it. 



Carter-Giannini said that the disturbance by the missing tile has been minimal.  The most noticeable interruption she recalled was during Obama’s speech on education, when students were distracted by the "waterfall" in the room.  

    Other discomforts she pointed out are how the air conditioner is noisier when it turns on, and how the missing tile looked bad at back to school night.