BPSB announces school re-opening date

Sep. 18--The Beauregard Parish School Board announced this week its dates for resuming classes. All Beauregard Parish students will return to classes via virtual learning on Wed. Sept. 23.

On Wed. Sept. 30, students will return to class in person, observing a regular 5 day school week.

The Beauregard Parish School system released a report on school conditions following Hurricane Laura last week.

"Beauregard Parish School Board employees were on the ground the day after Hurricane Laura assessing damage to our schools and facilities and beginning the clean-up process," he said. "Some of our schools fared the storm well with little damage, while other schools were hit hard."

South Beauregard Upper Elementary suffered the greatest damage with the majority of the school breached through the roof, window, and wall damage.

Several inches of water and debris were in hallways and classrooms.

South Beauregard High School had damage to the library and nearby hallways as well as damage to athletic areas. South Beauregard

Elementary sustained the least amount of damage with some water leaks at the school.

East Beauregard High School has some roof damage with water in buildings and damage to the band hall along with the loss of the field house.

East Beauregard Elementary suffered water damage to the auditorium and cafeteria along with several AC units blown off the roof.

Merryville High School had a water leak on the main gymnasium floor and in the cafeteria.

Singer High School had water leaks in the front office and the original gymnasium area.

In DeRidder, K.R Hanchey Elementary, Title I, Beauregard Alternative, and the Bus Barn sustained minimal damage.

The Central Office sustained some window and water damage while the maintenance building lost its roof.

The roof over the library at Carver Elementary was peeled back with major water damage to library contents as well as to classrooms and restrooms on the adjoining hallway.

Pine Wood Elementary had windows blown out in the gymnasium with water damage.

DeRidder Junior High School sustained holes in the roof with some water damage.

DeRidder High School has roof damage on the main building and lost the concession stand and the roof of the field house.

The School Board immediately put out bids for a Disaster Recovery Team and hired Cotton Contractors to install large generators at the schools to get climate control back in as many areas as possible to mitigate mold and mildew and to begin the clean-up process.

"In addition to working with Cotton, we are also already in meetings with our insurance adjustors and with FEMA and GOHSEP to begin documenting the damage and creating lists of destroyed and lost items," explained Superintendent Timothy Cooley.

"This will be a long process, but we are meeting daily with representatives from each of these groups as we tackle the recovery one step at a time."Many school systems across the state have reached out with advice and help with the recovery process as well as donations for our schools, students, and teachers, Cooley said.

"We appreciate each of them and know our recovery process is made easier because of their assistance."

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