Memorial School Repairs 'On Schedule'

Just about a month after they were originally slated to start there, displaced Memorial students, currently split out at three separate locations across the district, will reunite for Memorial’s re-opening Monday, Oct. 3, following the Rosh Hashanah holiday.

Superintendent Bruce Watson said the school’s restoration and renovation work was on schedule, and that next week Wednesday would be the final day that Memorial students would attend classes outside of their designated building.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, extensive flood damage to the school’s boiler room forced the district to delay the start of school and temporarily educate students in various community locations until the school building was suitable for use.

Memorial sixth graders have had classes on the first floor of the Community Center, seventh grade students at Thomas Jefferson Middle School and eighth graders in the C-Wing of Fair Lawn High School.

Watson said the temporary plan that’s been in place since Sept. 9 has worked smoothly, but that he’s excited to get the kids back to school at Memorial.

Fixing up Memorial hasn’t come without a price, however. The clean-up and restoration costs have already run over $1 million, Watson said.

He said he hopes the costs will be fully borne by a combination of the school’s private insurance carrier and the federal government, through FEMA. It will be another few months before the district knows just how much of the cost will be picked up and by whom.