A first-world problem caught the eye of the Saturday Night Live TV show after the news of a Minnechaug Regional High School and its inability to turn off lights, came to light. “The students are doing fine but the classroom hamster has gone insane,” joked the host.
What’s wrong with the lights at Minnechaug Regional High School?
Minnechaug Regional High School is stuck with all 7,000 lights on throughout the day and night since August 2021. Following a computer glitch, shutting down the lighting system at the school has been impossible. However, there is finally a sign out of the tunnel. “We are very much aware this is costing taxpayers a significant amount of money. We have been doing everything we can to get this problem solved,” stated Aaron Osborne. Osborne is a regional school finance official.
The Minnechaug Regional High School’s newspaper reported the issue after the inability to fix a key computer server. The repairs were stopped as the company which first installed it changed hands many times. This first-world problem made national news after it caught the attention of Saturday Night Live, a satirical television show. “The students are doing fine but the classroom hamster has gone insane,” joked the show’s host.
More on the issue
According to NBC, teachers at the Minnechaug Regional High School manually removed some bulbs to reduce the wasteful use of electricity. However, since the replacement parts are now available, a “software transition” is scheduled for February. Unfortunately, turning off the lights comes at a heavy price. As per officials, it can cost them between $75,000 and $80,000. The hefty cost will be towards replacing the entire server and lighting at the high school.