Sault Area Middle School will be closed for at least one more day, Tuesday, until school administrators, engineers and contractors meet Tuesday afternoon to discuss the progress of the cleanup and rebuilding of the part of the building that was damaged by a collapsed roof.
Sault Area Public Schools Superintendent Amy Scott-Kronemeyer said a portion of the roof collapsed Friday night into an E-Sports classroom next to the gym, causing a water line to break and flood over 20,000 square feet of flooring, including the gym. The school has around 107,000 square feet in total.
A school employee who entered the school Saturday morning to prepare the gym for basketball games noticed the flooding and contacted Scott-Kronemeyer.
"It was the depth of the water, especially in the gymnasium. That was our first 'uh-oh, what is going on here?'" Scott-Kronemeyer said.
Parts of the roof have different elevations, and where the roof collapsed, Scott-Kronemeyer said it was in the lower elevation and that is where all the snow drifted and collected over time.
"We are happy it happened when nobody was there. Maybe not in the middle of the night where we could have known about it sooner. We had questions about why it didn't trigger our alarms but we think the heat steam from the water escaping through the hole in the roof prevented the fire alarms from going off," Scott-Kronemeyer said.
Crews spent today rebuilding the section of the roof while the gym was being air-dried, and other parts of the roof were being cleared of snow.
Scott-Kronemeyer has nothing but praise for all the companies and people who responded quickly to work on getting the school re-opened.
"We need to verify that it is safe for our students to return to this space. Also to make sure all of our alarm systems, just as fire alarms and such, are all in working condition to make sure we are approved for occupancy," Scott-Kronemeyer said.
Middle School Principal Jessica Rondeau jumped right into action when she heard what happened.
"That thought process started on Saturday as who is where and what does it look like to move students around the building and to make sure everyone is comfortable and safe while they are here. My staff has been tremendous offering anything that needs to be done. We are going to make sure we are ready to rock and roll when it's time to reopen the school," Rondeau said.
When school does reopen, Rondeau wants parents to know that recess will be held outside until the repairs are complete and urges parents to have their children dress accordingly for the weather.
There will be a meeting Tuesday at noon with all those involved in the clean-up effort to determine when school will re-open.
