Students and staff at Barrington High School evacuated the building on Wednesday morning, Sept. 7, after a rooftop HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) unit broke and sent smoke into the classrooms in the music wing.

Barrington High School Principal Chris Ashley shared an email with students’ parents following the incident: “I am writing to let you know that the motor on the air handler above our music wing went out this morning. The students and staff were safely evacuated due to the smoke in the music room. There was no fire.”

Barrington Superintendent of Schools Michael Messore said a belt in the unit wore out, “which is typical of all our older (rooftop) units.”

“This is a frequent occurrence at our schools,” Messore said.

In fact, at the start of the last school year students were evacuated from Nayatt Elementary School when a rooftop HVAC unit failed. 

“That was on Sept. 14, 2021,” Messore said. 

Principal Ashley wrote that Wednesday’s incident was quickly addressed by the Barrington Fire Department. Firefighters checked the HVAC unit and then allowed students and staff to re-enter the building. 

“The band and chorus classes will placed in the auditorium for the remainder of the day,” Ashley wrote on Wednesday morning. “The students and staff are safely back in their classrooms.”

During an interview on Thursday, Messore said there was some discussion about whether officials should replace the entire rooftop unit or just replace the broken belt. Messore said the Barrington High School roof needs to be replaced at some point in the near future, and that might serve as the best opportunity to install a new unit. 

“We know we have to replace that roof,” he added.