The field at Swampscott Elementary School sits closed indefinitely after officials discovered dozens of glass shards buried beneath its surface, months after a student was cut while playing on it. District officials say the glass was likely stirred up by a drainage project meant to fix the field, not placed there by anyone connected to the school.
According to NBC Boston, Swampscott school officials only began examining the field closely after a student was cut while playing on it. One parent told the outlet her daughter was cut during recess on the field back in June and provided a photo of the wound; the child suffered minor injuries. Superintendent Jason Calichman said that at the time, nobody suspected glass as the culprit behind earlier scratches or cuts kids had reported on the field.
The field is part of Swampscott’s new elementary school, which the district built in 2024. Itemlive previously described the overall project as a $100 million undertaking, though the outlet has also reported the figure as $98 million in a separate account of the opening — a discrepancy that remains unresolved. Soon after the school opened, the district noticed the field was not draining properly and invested in a drainage project to address it, per NBC Boston.
Drainage Work Exposed What Was Buried Below
That drainage project, completed in April, appears to be what first exposed the glass problem, according to Swampscott Tides. Facilities Director Max Kasper told WHDH 7News that the material was not dumped recently but had been sitting underground for some time. “It’s existing material that was on the site underneath the site,” Kasper said, per the station’s report. He added that the drainage work brought the previously buried glass closer to the surface.
Once officials unearthed the glass, they closed the field right away. Kasper revealed the extent of the contamination at a school committee meeting, calling it a frustrating and unusual problem that will require professional help to fix. “We tried to install a drainage system at the field, which is what first exposed the glass problem,” he said, the station reported. Kasper also acknowledged the irony of the situation, saying the district set out to do something good for the field but ended up creating a serious problem instead.
Testing Finds Glass Across Dozens of Sample Sites
To gauge how widespread the contamination is, the district’s landscape contractor collected 44 soil samples, each measuring two inches by two inches by six inches, Swampscott Tides reported. Out of those 44 samples, at least eight spots contained about nine pieces of glass each, according to WHDH 7News. The findings suggest the glass is scattered unevenly across sections of the field rather than confined to a single patch.
Kasper said fixing the problem will likely be both costly and slow going, and the district plans to hire a landscaper to remove the glass. School Committee Chair Glenn Paster said Swampscott is also hiring a landscape architect to assess the field and determine the best path forward. Swampscott Tides reports that a significant remediation project may ultimately be necessary, though the final scope has not been determined.
Costs, Legal Options Still Being Sorted Out
Paster said the town is looking into legal options that could help offset the repair costs, according to NBC Boston’s report. He also said the student who was cut is expected to recover. Beyond those statements, officials have not laid out who will ultimately foot the bill, how long repairs might take, or exactly when the field could reopen to students.
