Linda O’Rourke lives in Bow.

The location of the new Concord middle school has been a hot topic as of late. I have been teaching at Rundlett Middle School for 26 years and am presently a member of the district’s Building Committee. While I can appreciate the various concerns of Concord residents regarding a new building, the bottom line is that we need a new school.

In its present state, students navigate the halls while dodging buckets catching the rain water and parts of the ceiling that are falling down due to leaks in the roof (the custodian stopped counting at 72 this year). They sit in stifling classrooms, too small for their growing bodies, that can reach 92 degrees in the fall and spring months as only some rooms can have air conditioners running without the ancient wiring tripping the breakers.

And right now, running down the windows of many classroom doors which are original to our 67-year-old building is the black adhesive that holds the windows in place (though harmless, it’s being contained with packing tape so as not to get on anyone). These are the conditions in which we are asking our students to learn.

Moving the location of the new school from the Broken Ground site to the current school’s South End location will further delay the construction of a new building, likely by at least three years, due to all the preliminary work that needs to be done before construction. This is work that has already been done for the Broken Ground site, and if this has to be completely redone for a South End location, it will incur additional cost beyond the current estimate.

Additionally, any fields will be delayed by five years as the demolition of Rundlett, which stands in the location of the proposed fields, is unable to happen until the new school is completed. Instead of four more years “making do” in a building that is quite literally falling apart and being held together by tape, it could potentially be at least seven years before we are in a building worthy of our students and nine years before students have a place for recess or athletes have fields for sports. Factor in escalation in those seven to nine years, and the cost will be so much greater than what is now estimated.

Our students, your children, deserve better. The condition of the building is only going to worsen, and costs to maintain Rundlett Middle School, as well as build a new school, are only going to go up. Please vote no on the amendments in the November election to allow the project to move forward as it stands so that our students can sooner learn in a setting that shows the value of education.