The point of the facade on the roof of the school, from where the plaster came off and fell on a student’s hand
A large school complex in Byron will be closed for two weeks, due to plaster falling in the yard. This is the 1st Gymnasium and 1st Lyceum, which houses about 800 students. The school was built in 1965 and in 1980 a 3rd wing was added.
In communication of “K” with the mayor of Byron, Grigoris Katopodis, about how we arrived at the urgent suspension of the school’s operation, he explains:
“On Monday 12/3/2023, a plaster fell in the yard from the front of the roof. The next day we fixed it but found there were other issues. So, last Saturday and then on Monday and Tuesday, digging the plasters at that point, we saw that the problem is more extensive, since other adjacent pieces were also falling. The employees of the technical service of the municipality found that the fragile section is large and so we proposed the issue of the safety of students and teachers, deciding to close the school for two weeks.”
According to Mr. Katopodi, the coating will first be cleaned (scraped), in order to proceed with the extensive maintenance of the infrastructure during the Easter holidays. During the time that the works last, the students will attend their courses by the distance learning method.
The mayor mentions at this point, that last summer, an energy upgrade was carried out at this particular school – replacement of windows, installation of a thermal facade, etc. – through a program of the Green Fund. He also noted that in 2019 a static control was carried out at the school, while in 2022, through the “Antonis Tritsis” program (of the Ministry of the Interior), a pre-earthquake control was also carried out.
“There had been no problem until now, but as you understand old buildings wear out over the years and get stressed and need systematic care. The municipalities, however, now have small budgets to carry them out”, emphasizes the mayor.
It should be noted that for fifteen years the responsibility for the building condition of the schools (inspection and restoration of problems) has been the responsibility of the municipalities – with the work being undertaken either by the technical services of each municipality, or by contractors.
The different view of the Byron Parents Association
THE George Varsagakis, president of the Byron Parents Association presents a different picture of the matter. He says that in recent years no static inspections have been carried out in the schools of the area, “that is why the municipality utilized resources for the energy upgrade, in a building which, however, from what it seems, may not have been ready to “endure”. How is it possible to install, for example, a thermal facade and after a few months plasters fall? Was a study done before this upgrade?’ he wonders himself and adds: “when the technical service of the municipality entered the school the day after the incident, whatever point they touched on the front of the roof collapsed.”
Mr. Varsagakis even notes that the plaster that came off did not just fall in the yard, but on the hand of a student. “Luckily it didn’t happen during the break,” he says characteristically.
Regarding the pre-earthquake inspection referred to by Mr. Katopodis, the president of the municipality’s Parents’ Association, he says that in reality it is a primary, macroscopic inspection, which, however, has nothing to offer a school that was built at a time when buildings were not built with anti-seismic rules, as started to happen from 1980 onwards.
He emphasizes that most schools in the area are old and poorly maintained, even mentioning that in March 2018, the 4th Primary School in the area (a historic building from 1927 in which Eleftherios Venizelos had also given a speech) was deemed unsuitable and dangerous for use . Since then, the school’s students have been bussed to nearby Kareas, to take lessons in prefabricated classrooms in an area of the municipality where the church is used.
“And while all this is happening, the Financial Committee of the municipality, with the recommendation of the municipal authority, reformed the budget for the maintenance and repair of school buildings, reducing it from 74,400 euros to 14,400 euros,” adds Mr. Varsagakis.
It is noted that the Byron Parents’ Association has requested a preventive inspection of all school buildings in the area.
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