Remarks from a Gloucester High School student drew the attention of county at-large supervisors and school board representatives during a town meeting held Feb. 19 at the T.C. Walker Education Center. 

The student spoke of sewage backups in the GHS culinary arts kitchen. He said the program’s instructor had put in for repairs year after year, but was told the fix was too expensive.

The ceilings at GHS also leak in places, the student said, as do wastewater pipes in restrooms. He did note that two of the school restrooms had been renovated.

“We weren’t aware of this (referring to the sewage backups and other unmet school repair needs), so you brought it to the right place tonight,” school board vice chairman and at-large representative Kevin Smith said in response to the student’s concerns.

The student’s grandmother also spoke, addressing a more familiar school concern—the overreliance on standardized testing. “The focus is not ...