LATROBE, Pa. — The Greater Latrobe Junior High School had a remote learning day on Wednesday after photos showed water pouring down from the school’s ceiling.
In the photos, you can see trash cans covering the floors, water pouring out of the ceiling and materials lifted off the floor. Junior high parents, like Jamie Price, said they got the notification from the school on Tuesday evening, and her daughter was disappointed.
“She has hated it [remote learning] since COVID,” Price said. “She was upset because she was unsure how to do this one project and I went upstairs and she was crying and I’m like, ‘honey, we will figure this out together.’ I don’t know much about Google Classroom, but I said we would work on it together and figure it out.”
The school is currently in the process of roof repairs, according to their website.
A statement from Superintendent Dr. Kim Rieffannacht said the sprinkler system at the junior high building experienced a valve failure and there’s no evidence it was related to the roofing project.
But, Rieffannacht said the incident “resulted in a significant amount of water entering the building from the sprinkler line.”
Price said she understands that accidents can happen, but that it puts parents in a tough situation, especially parents who have kids who participate in after-school activities.
“Not everybody has a parent that can leave work and pick their kid up and take them to school right now for said afterschool activities,” Price said.
According to Rieffannacht, the failure happened around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, and a restoration team arrived at the school by 5 p.m. In the meantime, maintenance and custodial staff started removing water, preserving school materials and started drying things out.
“I’m just hoping whatever happened can be resolved, and they can be back in school tomorrow,” Price said.
Students are being told to plan to have in-person classes on Thursday. According to the superintendent, eight classrooms will remain closed while restoration efforts continue, and students and teachers in those rooms will be temporarily relocated. She also says some curricular materials and décor will need to be replaced. But Price said parents at the junior high are always willing to help if the school makes the information available.
“We like to help each other out when bad things happen, so hopefully we can get together as a community if kids do need things,” Price said. “Maybe we can collect and donate it to the school.”
Students and teachers who are in those eight classrooms will get their new assignments first thing Thursday morning.
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