Administrators still assessing SAHS flood damage

Jan. 31--Sault Area Public Schools Superintendent Tim Hall believes the district's insurance company will cover most -- if not all -- of the damage caused by a flood at Sault Area High School over the weekend.

His assessment was part of a lengthy presentation and discussion regarding the flood during a previously-scheduled Board of Education workshop session Tuesday evening.

Meanwhile, administrators were still planning to resume classes Thursday after SAHS was closed for three days so custodians and a ServPro crew could clear the water and clean the mess. Hall said in an email Wednesday that fire officials, an electrician with J. Ranck Electric, and ServPro were all confident the building would be ready.

Principal Carl McCready said classes held in the affected rooms will be relocated. A full school assembly was planned for Thursday morning to explain the situation to students.

"I think we have a good plan, that when we are able to move back and start school that the kids will be in good shape," McCready told the board.

Hall and Maintenance Coordinator Gary Herschell said it is too early to assign a value to the damage caused by the flood, which resulted from an upstairs classroom window being inadvertently left open and the ensuing cold air flow freezing 27 faucets in the room. The faucets broke, causing water to pour out, flood the room, and eventually flow through ceilings and into the building's ground floor where it flooded hallways, ravaged the Strahl Theatre, and shorted out an electrical panel cutting power and heat to the lower level of SAHS's academic area.

McCready said the contents of 12 students' lockers were affected. Those materials have been inventoried and he planned to contact their parents Wednesday to address the situation.

Herschell said J. Ranck officials believe they can restore power to the affected area within a week. One challenge will be finding a replacement electrical panel which can both handle the necessary load and fit in the space available.

"They're going to work all weekend long and do everything they can to get us power as quickly as possible," Herschell said.

He noted the building's fire alarm system is still working properly.

Herschell said in the future, custodians will be asked to look for open windows more thoroughly. Administrators also plan to have district facilities routinely checked on weekends to prevent a similar event from happening again.

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