“Overall, we were in pretty good shape,” he said. We have some minor roof leaks that are being addressed, and some flooding outside of the schools.”
Gretzinger said the flooding that engulfed the M. Clifford Miller Middle School bus turnaround and has subsequently receded is symbolic of the kind of flooding experienced elsewhere in the district. Still, Kingston schools didn’t get off scot-free.
The most important thing is that we lost power in four elementary schools and Kingston High School,” said Gretzinger, speaking on Wednesday, Aug. 31, just before the Kingston Times went to press.
At Kingston High School, the power was out in two-thirds of the campus buildings, closing the school to staff on Monday before it was restored the following day. Also on Tuesday, computers and phone lines were restored to full capacity.
The annual freshman orientation, originally scheduled for Monday night, was moved to Thursday, Sept. 1, but it proved to be the only large school event impacted at Kingston High.
The annual summer school graduation ceremony, which this year honored 17 students, went off as planned on Tuesday night. Gretzinger said he was pleased that it wasn’t affected by the storm.
Four elementary schools also suffered a loss of power in the storm: Robert R. Graves, Ernest C. Myer, Zena and Anna Devine. Gretzinger said the first to regain power was Myer, which happened quickly. Next was Graves, which had power restored late Tuesday afternoon, followed by Zena, and Anna Devine, which saw power come back Wednesday Gretzinger credited the district’s maintenance crew, which is overseen by Tom Clapper. “They did an outstanding job checking the schools and all of our buildings,” the superintendent said.
Kids cavort in the flooded Linderman Avenue in Kingston. (Photo by Phyllis McCabe)
With teachers working in their classrooms to get ready for the new school year, Gretzinger said it was fortunate that the district isn’t dealing with greater issues than those it’s got on its plate after the storm.
