Lockport D205 gives update on learning plan for Central Campus students after ceiling collapse

Lockport — Following the overnight collapse of a third floor math classroom’s ceiling Thursday, students at Lockport Township High School’s Central Campus have been placed on a temporary e-learning plan.

On Friday afternoon, Lockport School District 205 put out a statement to parents to update them on plans for educating their students in the days ahead.

“We anticipate that online learning will continue to take place into next week as we take the time to inspect every aspect of Central Campus for safety. Our goal is to return to in-person learning as quickly as possible, and we hope that we can re-enter Central Campus as soon as possible,’ according to statement released by Superintendent Dr. Robert McBride on Friday afternoon.

A follow-up statement shared Friday evening confirmed that online learning for freshmen will continue through Wednesday, Nov. 8, while CCC and Lockport Academy students should report to the Lockport Township offices on Farrell road for in-person classes beginning on Monday.

The plaster ceiling in a 100-year-old section of the school building , located at 1222 Jefferson St., Lockport, collapsed at about 10:15 p.m. on Wednesday and was discovered Thursday morning by teachers. The room was empty when the incident occurred.

Students were dismissed by 9 a.m. Thursday “out of an abundance of caution” and the district now has a team of five forensic architects inspecting the facility to evaluate any further risks.

The same team was on site Thursday afternoon as well determining the cause of the initial collapse, which was blamed on the age of the structure, and will continue its inspections through the weekend. According to the Friday evening statement, the architects have confirmed that the collapse was not caused by a building structure problem but by a sub-structure issue “related to construction methods used in some of our Central Campus classrooms.”

The collapse occurred in the northwest corner of the third story in a portion of the building built during the 1920s.

Parents should be reassured that there was no asbestos found in the initial tests of the collapse debris and the school’s lack of central air circulation systems means that no debris or contaminated air from the collapse was circulated through more of the building, according to the statement released Friday by McBride.

In order to ensure the campus is complete safe for students to re-enter evaluations will likely continue into next week, along with the e-learning schedule.

Currently freshmen and special education students who attend the campus are studying from home online, while students and staff who move between campuses are attending their Central classes virtually from East.

In the event the school is deemed unsafe for quick student re-entry, the district is working on a contingency plan to have all students attend East Campus as an interim plan so students can resume in-person classes. On Friday evening the district confirmed that it is assessing the capacity options of East Campus, should this option be needed.

The district also announced that its planned Career Week event, which was supposed to take place between Nov. 7 and Nov. 10 has been postponed and will be rescheduled at a later date.

More information about the developments at Central will be released throughout the weekend and next week.

This is a developing story.