Rain, leaks interrupt Charles City High School roof refurbishing

(ABC 6 News) – Charles City High School personnel arrived at the building Thursday to find “significant leaking” in the north hallway, according to Jerry Mitchell, the school’s director of operations.

According to Mitchell and CCHS leadership, the high school completed annual state tests Thursday, despite the soggy conditions of the hallway.

Mitchell said the leakage originates from refurbishments of the north end of the school’s roof.

While the contractors working on the roof power-washed it over the past days, some seams and small holes must have developed which went unnoticed until the rain Wednesday into Thursday, Mitchell said.

“With all the rain last night, we have some water issues on the north hallway of the high school, towards the art room, outside of the science rooms and in some other rooms on the north end,” Mitchell said. “The roof is completely intact. We are having ceiling tile that have gotten wet and need to come down. We are controlling the water that is coming into the building and the contractor is on their way back to patch and temporarily fix the roof as they continue to prep to seal the north end.”

Mitchell added that staff had begun fixing some of the seams and leaks Thursday, while others checked for wet ceiling tiles inside.

Charles City superintendent Anne Lundquist did not anticipate any schedule changes or closures after the leak.

“I am unsure as to how many of the leaks will be sealed today, the contractors are working on correcting this today, but regardless, classes will be able to run on schedule tomorrow because the leaks have been mitigated, and this is only a small area of a very large building,” Lundquist said.