Buckeye South Elementary School officials seeks answers after flooding
Warm, dry air is pumped into Buckeye South Elementary following heavy flood damage Friday. The first day of classes at the school has been canceled until the district can devise a new plan. -- Robert DeFrank
Buckeye Local School District Superintendent Kim Leonard looks over water damage at Buckeye South Elementary. The school sustained flooding Friday during heavy rainfall, delaying the school’s reopening. The district is working on another plan for the pupils’ education. -- Robert DeFrank
Buckeye Local School District Superintendent Kim Leonard looks over water damage at Buckeye South Elementary. The school sustained flooding Friday during heavy rainfall, delaying the school’s reopening. The district is working on another plan for the pupils’ education. -- Robert DeFrank
Warm, dry air is pumped into Buckeye South Elementary following heavy flood damage Friday. The first day of classes at the school has been canceled until the district can devise a new plan. -- Robert DeFrank
Buckeye Local School District Superintendent Kim Leonard looks over water damage at Buckeye South Elementary. The school sustained flooding Friday during heavy rainfall, delaying the school’s reopening. The district is working on another plan for the pupils’ education. -- Robert DeFrank
Buckeye Local School District Superintendent Kim Leonard looks over water damage at Buckeye South Elementary. The school sustained flooding Friday during heavy rainfall, delaying the school’s reopening. The district is working on another plan for the pupils’ education. -- Robert DeFrank
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TILTONSVILLE -- Buckeye South Elementary School was ready to open its doors to many of its 350 pupils Monday, but the building flooded and incurred heavy damage as 2 inches of rain fell Friday night.
A possible clog in the school's drainpipes is believed to have caused water to back up and eventually flood the school.
Most of the staff members were present, holding final consultations before the expected new school year, when the flood began.
"It sounded like a waterfall coming into the building. I took off running and saw the water gushing," Principal Julie Packer said. "I just was beside myself with devastation. All the hard work the teachers have put in, all the time that they've come (in during the summer to prepare) and it was all ruined in a matter of minutes."
On Friday, staffers were salvaging all that they could from classrooms. The majority of the school's iPads and other technology were saved from the water.
"It all happened in the matter of an hour," Buckeye Local School District Superintendent Kim Leonard said.
Leonard said staff and administration are still determining the extent of damage to the three-story building. On Monday, consultants, excavators and an insurance adjuster were in the building assessing damage and the remaining water in the ceiling and walls. Workers also are pumping warm, dry air into the building and disinfecting surfaces in an effort to forestall mold and other issues. The air quality in the building is being monitored.
"They are trying to figure out where the blockage is in the pipe that is in the roof," Leonard said.
Following the flooding, board members have met and continue to discuss options for going forward. Leonard said they hope to announce a plan this week and to start school next week. The chief concern is finding a local site to house pupils and host school activities. Even if a site is found, the district must consider issues such as transportation and internet access.
These measures are further complicated by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and state-mandated precautions. Leonard said the preparations made in the flooded school building would have to be transferred to whatever new site is established.
"We are still going to try really hard to social distance," Leonard said. "The longer that we have been thinking about this, the more we have been trying to come up with a game plan. I really don't want to displace our kids out of their area. This is their hometown. I also do not want to split up our faculty and staff or our students. I want to do everything I can to keep them all together."
Classes at Buckeye North Elementary in Brilliant and Buckeye West Elementary in Adena also have been canceled for now.
"We're really going to count on (faculty and staff) to join forces and help us out here," Leonard said.
Leonard added that most of the damages is on the first and second floors.
"It seems as if wherever the water came in from the roof, that it came in and it went down a drain so far, then floors on the third floor in two different classrooms were affected, and from there it seems the water has dispersed and it went down through the center of the walls."
Leonard thanks the community for reaching out to the district and offering assistance, but she said the particular legalities surrounding a school complicate matters, such as organizing volunteers. No large-scale cleaning project can begin until the damage is fully assessed.
"Everybody wanted to come together and get in here and clean," she said. "We can't do things that way. We've got to take things slow. ... Everything has to be up to code. ... There's so many health and safety guidelines."
Leonard said the building likely will remain closed for months. She did not speculate on the cost of repairs.
"This isn't like something that happens inside of a house," she said. "There's multiple steps we have to go through, there's multiple people that have to come in, and it's a very, very slow process."
More information and announcements about the situation can be found on the district's social media platforms, via the All-Call system, and the website buckeyelocal.net.
"Watch for videos," Leonard said. "We're trying to put out videos of what's going on inside this building."