GREAT FALLS, S.C. — Tuesday was the first day back to school for students in Chester County. Students at Great Falls Elementary School arrived to find the gym, music room and art room shut down.
A piece of the gym ceiling about the size of a dinner plate fell to the floor over the holiday break. That forced an inspection and some changes for safety.
The school was built in 1950 and though the roof was renovated about 10 years ago, the ceiling has not been.
Parent Kristina Kos, who has a son there in kindergarten, said that's a big safety concern.
"It could fall again, and one of these kids could get hurt, seriously hurt," she said.
Jeff Gardner, chief operations officer, said employees are taking precautions and doing all they can to keep students and staff safe.
"We've got an engineer coming in to inspect it and by tomorrow we'll know more about what happened," Gardner said.
He added that the district has a five-year plan for renovations and repairs that would cost $19 million.
The roof issue at Great Falls Elementary was not on that list and it appears to be a new problem.
Great Falls Elementary is the same school that had a problem with bats for almost two years. Parents were frustrated that it took so long to address that problem because of the health hazard.
Other parents told Channel 9 that because Great Falls continues to lose population and has struggled economically, it gets ignored when it comes to funding.
"We don't have much here in Great Falls any longer and we've just kind of been pushed to the side," Kena Funderburk said.
Voters will decide Feb. 13 whether to approve a bond issue of $38 million.
That bond issue includes $25 million for a new Workforce Readiness Center in Chester, and $11.2 million will go toward critical maintenance needs for the entire district.
However, maintenance needs over the next five years are expected to reach $19 million.
Gardner said the inspection of the gym ceiling at Great Falls Elementary should be done Wednesday.
They'll then know what they're dealing with and how long the gym and other rooms will be closed for activities.
The district sent a letter out Tuesday to inform parents about what happened and the plan for repairs.
Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/LH3JSJEF3VBLRJLJQESEAG34AM.png)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/SNIY2Q6TBJEL7MXONCB7XKGJ4E.jpg)
:quality(70)/d1hfln2sfez66z.cloudfront.net/04-19-2024/t_adcbd0ba2b1d4c3bacdd361059c824a6_name_file_960x540_1200_v3_1_.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/INIPJDENXRDZJDZJH25FT7D76U.png)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/2TFZTCNBXJD5XFTE7N7ZEGQ67Q.jpeg)
:quality(70)/d1hfln2sfez66z.cloudfront.net/12-15-2019/t_ef5ac714d13c441089ac567b61cf5e29_name_374678396001_3725595873001_video_still_for_video_3725600003001.jpg)