As a continuation of the campus-wide roofing project that started in January 2025, construction work moved to Old Main during the first few weeks of the 2025-2026 school year, permeating hallways and classrooms with a smell described like “gas” and “tar”. This has caused a multitude of issues for both students and teachers who learn and work in the building for hours every day.
Several students’ reported that their learning experience and personal health have been affected by this horrendous smell. Sophia Medal, a senior at CHS, has several classes in Old Main, and she said the smell has been quite a bother for her. Medal stated, “It’s so rank—it genuinely makes me upset.” Sophia added that the severity of the smell in Ms. Austermann’s class was so awful that her English classes were forced to move into a classroom in another building.
Lily Cash, another senior at CHS, shared that the smell is causing her to feel dizzy and nauseous during class and when walking through the halls. Aminae Obichere, a junior, reported similar physical symptoms such as headaches and nausea as well.
Mr. Hammond, a Government and Military History teacher and long-time Chandler High School employee, said that he had never experienced anything like this during his time at CHS. When the smell was particularly intense in his upstairs classroom, Mr. Hammond was forced to prop his classroom door open for adequate ventilation. Although this helped with air quality inside the room, the industrial fans and air scrubbers in the hallways were very loud, and with the door open, students were often distracted by the noise. Fortunately, Mr. Hammond reported, the odor has faded from his part of the building in recent days.
Other Old Main teachers reported frustration with the unexpected effects of constantly running fans and blowers in the hallways. Many teachers have bulletin boards with decor or students’ work near their classrooms. There are also flyers pinned all around the buildings. The fans were blowing with such force that papers and flyers flew off the bulletin boards and littered the hallways.
With the addition of industrial fans and air scrubbers, and perhaps, progress in the construction project on Old Main’s roof, it seems the smell has faded through most of the building over the last few days. Regardless, students and teachers alike had to make adjustments and learn to cope with the terrible odor that overtook our historic and critical school building during the first few weeks of this school year.
