Keeping warm has not been an easy job for anyone in town this winter. So imagine what it feels like to be tasked with keeping hundreds of students warm at school.

“It’s a big worry. You’re responsible for keeping the school warm and safe for the kids and the staff,” said Minot Forest Elementary head custodian Ann DeMelo. “I’ve been very fortunate. For 25 years, I have had nothing big go wrong.”

She notes that the Minot boilers are as old as the school itself.

“There’s nothing like the old timers,” she said. “These guys are as older as the building, and the building was built in ’64.”

Converted from oil to gas in the early 1990s, there are actually two boilers. One runs constantly, while the other acts as a sort of backup.

“If you have a pilot light in your house that goes down, you’re stuck,” explained Wareham Public Schools business manager Michael MacMillan. “Here, we have a backup.”

According to DeMelo, one boiler had gone down in early January and took about two weeks to fix.

“I was a nervous wreck,” she said. “I didn’t sleep well at night . . . I have been here when pipes burst, and it’s not a pretty sight.”

Across town, Wareham Middle School has a newer heating system, but it’s beginning to show its age.

“Right now, we’re having quite a few issues throughout the school,” said custodian Louis Caron. “Everything is starting to show wear.”

At the middle school, two are on simultaneously with a third as backup. The heating is overseen by the head custodian, who can control some heating mechanisms with a computer.

Caron said as more pressure is put on the boiler system, more issues occur.

MacMillan explained that the heating system is easily susceptible malfunctioning.

“Usually, it will be like the heat in one classroom is not working, or a wing. It’s very rare that a whole boiler just won’t start,” he said. “Our custodians will take a look at it to see if they can fix it, and if they can’t, we’ll have to call in the company.”

“If one thing isn’t working, it affects a lot of people,” MacMillan said.