Oxford High School is closed for the fourth day as engineers continue their quest to determine why cracks started forming on the walls in a gym and the floor in a science room.
The cracks were first discovered last Thursday.
At Tuesday’s school board meeting, new Superintendent Edward Malvey reviewed the situation.
School officials are waiting for a report from the engineers, who are going through the guts of the building with a fine-tooth comb.
Since they’re still waiting for a final report, officials hesitated Tuesday from saying anything conclusive.
Click the video to see Malvey’s remarks, including a question and answer session between he and school board chairwoman Rose McKinnon. The chairwoman’s questions start five minutes into the video.
The cracks, apparently formed from the heavy snow load on the school’s flat roof, are similar to fractures that form over time as a building settles, Malvey said.
The difference here — Oxford High School is just five years old.
In addition to structural engineers, Oxford schools have brought in a team from O&G Industries to figure out exactly what’s happening within the building. O&G built the school.
School board chairwoman Rose McKinnon interrupted Malvey’s update on the situation Tuesday, saying the engineers are still investigating.
“I prefer not to go into a lot of detail right now,” she said before asking Malvey a number of questions.
“Just because we haven’t gotten the final paperwork, they’re still investigating,” McKinnon said.
“That’s correct,” Malvey said.
“And that’s why we’re taking such a long time,” she said.
“That’s correct,” Malvey said.
In response to a question asked by McKinnon, Malvey said the engineers are also examining the building’s concrete and steel frames.
Again responding to a McKinnon question, Malvey said the hope is that the engineers will complete their work Wednesday — but there are no guarantees.
“Right now, I don’t see it as long term, but that could change,” Malvey said. “Each column, each beam is an entity onto itself.”
Students at the high school have missed a dozen school days thanks to this hellish winter.
And now they lost February vacation — school officials took it away Tuesday due to the unusually high number of weather-related closings.
School officials also revised the school year by eliminating a staff development day and adding a few days to the end of the year. They also shortened the school year from 182 days to 180 days.
Now school will end June 23 for the high school, June 21 for the other schools in the district.
A few students spoke to the school board Tuesday night, saying they want to get back into the high school as soon as possible.
“I sound like a complete nerd saying this, but I’ve run out of homework. I don’t know what to do anymore,” junior Jared Schulman told the Valley Indy.
“I actually picked up my psych book and tried to read ahead,” Oxford senior Kathleen Mifflin said. “I feel like with our exams coming up for our AP classes in May, I’m getting concerned. That’s why we came to the meeting tonight.”
— Reporter Eugene Driscoll contributed to this report.
