First day of school delayed again in Granite City as flood cleanup continues
Damage from flash flooding early this week will delay Granite City School District’s first day of school again.
Classes originally were scheduled to begin on Thursday, but were delayed through the weekend so cleanup and repairs could be addressed. Superintendent James Greenwald said Friday that the work was taking “longer than expected” and that the entire district would be closed until Thursday, Aug. 22.
Greenwald said the district has been urged to have environmental air testing done before allowing students back into the building.
“We have got to cross the T’s and dot the I’s when it comes to the safety of our students,” he said.
Downpours Sunday night and Monday morning dumped between 5 1/2 and 7 1/2 inches of rain on parts of Granite City.
Most of the rain damage was at Granite City High School and are short-term issues, Greenwald said. Roughly 10 classrooms at Coolidge Junior High took on water which resulted in damaged ceiling tiles, fallen insulation and more.
Greenwald said earlier this week he decided to delay the first day of school earlier this week stemmed from ensuring the safety of students and staff members.
“We did not want kids coming in tomorrow or Friday just for the sake of rushing school to start,” he said. “(They’d be) stepping over hoses and a lot of the dehumidifiers and fans are really noisy.”
This story was originally published August 16, 2019 at 11:09 AM.