'Catastrophic flooding' closes Berks County school for upcoming school year, according to officials
READING, Pa. - Clean up is underway after heavy flooding in Reading. Officials are saying that Antietam Middle-Senior High School suffered catastrophic flood damage that will keep it closed next school year.
Wednesday, federal, state and local emergency management organizations assessed the school to check for structural damage.
"It’s really upsetting, especially because all the stuff that was there and everything is just very hard for us now," 10th grader Jakob Shrem explained. "Hopefully, they can figure a different situation out so we can go back to school soon."
The school superintendent says she would like students to begin class as scheduled on August 21 and administrators are reviewing two options.
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The first option would keep students in the district at two buildings the district currently owns.
"So, that option includes housing our seventh through 12th students in the building. The other two buildings we currently have, there’s been some grade reconfiguration and there’s going to be a schedule that’s a.m., p.m.," explained Dr. Heidi Rochlin, Superintendent of the Antietam School District.
Option two calls for renting an office building in Reading and reconfiguring the space into classrooms. It’s an option some students aren’t fond of.
Senior Kaiden Hughes had this to say, "I feel it’s really important because it’s my senior year. That’s pretty much when everything happens, when you’re looking at colleges and doing all that stuff. So, it’s like, really important to have that senior year in school, not, like, online, virtual, because it takes away from you."
The school district is hosting a question-and-answer session Thursday night at 6:30, at Mount Penn Primary Center to address the community’s concerns.