Students will return for in-person learning at Oswego High School Wednesday after a water main break at the school late Sunday evening caused students to be dismissed Monday morning and pivot to remote learning.
School District 308 spokeswoman Theresa Komitas said it is too early to say what the cost of repairs will be due to the water main break, which caused a large amount of damage to classrooms and teachers’ offices on the first and second floors of the building.
Contractors are working with insurance providers to catalog and take photos of everything that was damaged in the classrooms, hallways and offices, officials said.
The water main break was on the second floor of the building and impacted around 19 classrooms, primarily for social studies and math classes, Komitas said. The leak wasn’t discovered until early Monday morning when staff members arrived and went to that part of the building.
Of the areas impacted, all but seven will be usable when students return Wednesday. The seven areas still impacted are expected to be open again in approximately another week, with teachers using other spaces in the school to conduct classes in the meantime, Komitas said.
“We are working with an environmental contractor to do ongoing testing for air quality over the next several weeks to make sure there is no growth of mold or any other issues with air quality,” Komitas said. “They worked really hard and put a lot of things back together to allow the students to return.”
Ceiling tiles were removed in a number of areas to allow for assessment and to help dry out the areas. Time will tell if drywall will need to be removed in the seven remaining spaces impacted, Komitas said.
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Students were dismissed around 9 a.m. Monday and began remote instruction later that day. On Tuesday, only two special education programs met in person at Oswego High School because those classrooms are self-contained and were not impacted by the water main break, officials said.