The City of Manassas is frantically trying to make arrangements to house its 5th and 6th graders for the rest of the year. The roof on the 4 year old school has been declared compromised and has been deemed unsafe even for teachers to re-enter the building to get supplies and personal belongings.
School superintendent Gail Pope is trying to open school in 9 days with no supplies, no phones, and at this point, no classrooms. So far, plans are to use old Marstellar that was bought from Prince William County by Manassas Baptist Church. The City is also looking at renting space from Manassas Assemblies of God Church that has classroom space. Additionally, there is some limited space at Round and Weems, according to Pope.
Who will bear the cost of this major roof repair that has structurally harmed part of the building? This is a 4 year old school. How could this have happened? Was it not built to code? Are other schools compromised because of flat roofs? How will this temporary situation affect SOL scores of the 5th and 6th graders? They will have missed more school than their counterparts not living in the City. Will the state make them make up the time? If yes, those poor kids will be in school until the 4th of July.
Further information: Manassas News & Messenger
