Back to school will look a little different for some students in Somerville, Massachusetts, after their classrooms were unexpectedly closed earlier in the summer.
Students at Winter Hill Community Innovation School will be calling a new school building home this academic year, after a piece of concrete fell from the ceiling inside the school back in June. According to the district, the non-structural piece of concrete fell onto a stairwell while the school was unoccupied. The city's building commissioner determined all areas in the school safe, except for that stairwell, which would've had to remain closed.
The whole school was closed, though, because without the stairwell, there wouldn't have been enough exits in the case of a fire or other emergency.
Students in grades 1-8 will be learning instead this year about a half mile away on Cross Street at the Edgerly Education Center.
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District officials said in order to get this building ready, they had to do improvements to the roofing and masonry to keep the building watertight.
In fact, not too long ago, asbestos was found in the building's window caulking. It was non-friable, though, meaning it's not necessarily a health risk.
Still, concerns were raised by parents, and summer programming at the Edgerly was called off early, allowing the construction work on the building to advance more quickly.
Parents, and even the Somerville mayor, were able to tour the school this week and so far, there have been no glaring concerns.
It should also be noted that Somerville school leaders say there will be a shuttle bus for some students from Winter Hill to their new location.
