Eighteen days after life at Oxford High School returned to normal, officials still have not received the official engineering report explaining how cracks in the five-year-old building’s walls formed.
School custodians discovered the cracks Thursday, Feb. 3. The cracks — and concerns about the roof’s capacity to hold the heavy snow load — canceled classes at the school until Feb. 10.
School officials repeatedly mentioned that their engineering firm was doing inspections and that a final report would be submitted. However, it still hasn’t been turned in.
Rosemary Hanson, the school district’s finance director, said last Wednesday she is not certain why it is taking so long for the engineers, Pustola & Associates, to submit a report.
School officials hope to release the report to the public as soon as it is available.
Several calls by the Valley Indy to the engineering firm were not returned last week.
Repair work at the school — including caulking and painting — continues. At this point there is no invoice for the costs involved, Hanson said.
Officials are also waiting to see who will pay for repairs to the school. School officials said they expected O & G Industries — the firm that constructed the building — to foot the bill.
“We are still looking into that,” said Mike Brennan, an assistant vice president at O & G.
School officials are also waiting for their insurance company to tell them what’s covered.
Rose McKinnon, chairwoman of the school board, said the engineering report will be released as soon as it is available.
“I’m very interested in all that information and what the insurance is going to be covering,” she said.
