Repairs done, Lawrence High School set to reopen

Lawrence High School will reopen on April 3, the day students return from spring break, in the meantime electrical power will be restored to the entire school in about a week, Superintendent Gary Schall said.

Following lengthy discussions with several groups, including the PTA and the Lawrence Teachers Association, Schall said, it was decided that bringing students, teachers and administrators back to the high school after spring break would “be the smoothest transition it can be and with no disruption to instruction,” he said.

The Lawrence Teachers Association agreed. “We asked for that,” said the union’s president, Lori Skonberg, adding that Monday, March 25, the day before the vacation begins, would be a perfect packing day for the teachers. “We will come back after the break and start fresh.”

District officials closed the high school on Jan. 16 because the building’s electrical wiring was corroding due to saltwater incursion from Hurricane Sandy.

The building’s gymnasium is being used as a polling place for the public referendum on the Number Six School on March 20. The gym will be powered up and secured for entry and exit during the vote, Schall said. The Long Island Power Authority will conduct tests for two days, and then power should be fully restored by the end of next week, he added.

The district hired a firm to check air quality before the high school closed in January. Equipment placed throughout the building monitored the air quality, which was found to be acceptable. Skonberg said that the teachers association would hire and pay for what she called an “independent company” to check the air quality just before the school reopens, “to be safe for everyone,” she said.

Sandy-related recovery expenses are expected to total $8 million, according to Schall. The district will apply for reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to cover 75 percent of those costs. The remaining 25 percent will be split evenly between the state and the district, he added.

Lawrence is still in the process of hiring a public adjuster to serve as its advocate and help the district navigate the extensive paperwork that accompanies reimbursement submissions. “We are looking for the best adjuster to give us the highest likelihood of success of receiving reimbursement,” said Murray Forman, vice president of the Board of Education.

When the district closed the high school, 975 high school students, along with teachers and administrators, were moved to Lawrence Middle School. About 475 middle school students were shifted to two of the district’s three elementary schools. Fifth-grade middle school students went to the Number Five School, and sixth-grade students went to the Number Two School to make room for the high school students.

Scheduling classrooms and activities made school life hectic. Classrooms in the middle school that were occasionally vacant during a school day were utilized, and office space was converted into 10 classrooms. The libraries and auditoriums at the elementary schools were used as classrooms. During spring break, the custodial staff will move equipment back to the high school.

“There were some understandable scheduling issues in the beginning,” Skonberg said. “However, overall, things have run quite smoothly, and instructional time never became a serious issue,” she said, adding that “everyone is looking forward to getting back to their home schools and returning to a sense of normalcy.”

Blasia Baum, president of the district’s Central Council PTA and parent of a high school student, is glad the high school will soon reopen. “I am thrilled that the high school students will be returning to their own building,” Baum said. “It will be nice to get life back to normal. I look forward to resuming high school activities and attending concerts and dance shows.”