On the first day of school Monday, students spent most of their time in the classroom — including breakfast and lunch.
Contractors worked through the summer to repair a portion of the school’s roof, said Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District Public Information Officer Nicole Thomas. Those repairs weren’t complete by the first day of school, she said, and an area of roof was left uncovered.
When Monday’s rains came, Assistant Superintendent Toriano Holloway said about 1.5 inches of water flooded into the dining area of the school’s cafeteria.
The school served students hot meals in to-go boxes for breakfast and lunch, Thomas said, and students ate in classrooms. While the situation is “inconvenient,” she said school staff, especially the cafeteria workers, “rolled with it.”
Thomas said district workers installed a tarp where tiles had fallen from the cafeteria ceiling, and school officials believe the temporary solution is working. Contractors also covered a 15-by-25-foot area of the roof with a tarp to keep more water from coming in.
However, she did not confirm by press time when students would again be allowed to eat in the cafeteria dining room.
Rain continued today and is forecast into next week, which could continue to delay contractors finishing the roof work.
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