On Sunday, Jan. 21, a pipe burst in the Library Media Center (LMC) at Skyridge Middle School (SMS), spilling over 400 gallons of water into the library. The incident caused substantial damage to the technology, books and programs that the library runs.
“I was so sad, I was just devastated,” SMS Librarian Connie Pappas said. “My heart was pounding and I was just so overwhelmed with… how sad I was.”
“We do not have any baseboards, there are actually holes in the walls to allow for air to pass through,” Pappas said.
In addition to the 244 books that were completely destroyed, two classrooms have been completely shut down due to the damage. Currently, the students and teachers who usually occupy those classrooms are operating in portables.
A couple of running start students shared opinions on how productivity would be affected if a similar occurrence had happened at the Camas High School (CHS) library.
“I am still learning how to balance my college and high school life, but the library has been a way to work on both at the same time,” junior Ava Tourbin said.
Another CHS junior and running start student, Shalaka Deshpande, shared a similar view.
“I would be affected if the library was not functioning because other than working at home, the library is the only other place that I do work,” Deshpande said.
During the storm, Bill Swacker, a maintenance worker for the district got a call from the fire department, alerting him that Grass Valley Elementary (GVE), had a leak.
“It was like a waterfall of ice on the side of the building,” Swacker said.
The damage at CHS was minimal compared to other schools around the district.
“CHS fared the best out of every building,” Swacker said. “We really did not have anything happen in here.”
Swacker had also received a call as he was leaving that the same thing had happened to Underwriters Laboratories (UL). Both GVE and UL have coils that heat and cool the building and the reason for the leak is that they had burst, flooding inside and outside the buildings.
The preventative measures in place include grounds-keeping shutting off the outside sprinklers and making sure that the buildings maintain a sustainable temperature, so that they do not freeze.
Maintenance and grounds are the main teams that contribute to the safety of the buildings and preventive measures. As well as partial custodial teams.
During the next winter storm, all of these measures will be taken. Unfortunately, it depends on how well equipped each individual building is to handle leaks and other water damage, as well as its location within the district.
