For four weeks, the building’s clocks were stopped at 3:58 due to a part that needed replacement, and began running again on June 5 only to stop at 7:52 the following day. The stopped clocks have led to frustration and concerns about why the problem continues to occur.
The clocks are all interconnected (except for a few that are battery-operated) and are tied into a central system managed out of an electrical closet, along with other computing hardware, such as the Wi-Fi and PA system. The benefits of this system are that the clocks can all be synced up and are easily adjusted to the same time. However, the detriment is that when the system fails, all clocks stop.
“It’s a very unglamorous answer, but there’s been a part that we are waiting to receive,” Principal Sean Bevan said. “These are not the kind of parts you can just go to the store to purchase—they’re specialty parts and we’re waiting for it to arrive.”
Director of Informational Technology Jon Parent explained via email that the part is a small fan in the clock controller, which stopped spinning. Without this part, the controller overheated and stopped working. The replacement was ordered in May from the company Nippon Sheet Glass Co. (NSG) and is supposed to arrive sometime the week of June 9.
On June 5, the clocks started up again, only to stop again after a day.
“An attempt was made to try and manually cool the clock controller using a portable air conditioning unit,” Parent said via email.
At first, many people didn’t notice that the clocks had stopped displaying the right time, which caused some disarray.
“In the early days, my students didn’t realize the clocks were broken, and they mostly look at the minute hand, so I often had students packing up when there was still 10 to 20 minutes left in class,” English teacher Lauren Frantz said.
However, after the initial adjustment period, the broken clocks were not a major issue for most students and teachers since other convenient ways to keep track of time exist.
“It was minorly annoying,” Frantz said. “I use my watch more anyway.”
Some students expressed concerns about not having working clocks during exams, when they were unable to use other electronic methods of keeping time.
“AP exams and really any form of standardized testing were [terrible],” junior Aaron Wu said. “It’s also really annoying having to ask teachers for the time during tests.”
Though a broken clock is still right twice a day, some students believe that the clocks are a major issue.
“I believe [the clocks] should be a top priority for the school to fix, especially with finals soon,” Wu said.
