At least $100,000 damage at Red Rock Elementary

ROYAL CITY — School was out for the entire Royal School District Monday and may be out a lot longer for the 600 students who attend Red Rock Elementary School.

Fire suppression pipes in the roof-ceiling froze sometime over the weekend. When they thawed, the school’s entire first floor was flooded, causing damage of at least $100,000.

“It’s kind of crazy (around here),” Superintendent Roger Trail said Monday.

It’s certainly a busy time for Trail and the school board. There was an emergency school board meeting for discussion of this challenge. There will more meetings today of individuals involved in cleanup and repair.

The $100,000 figure is preliminary. The damage wasn’t fully assessed by Monday evening.

The frozen pipe-flooding was discovered early Sunday, Trail said.

In a posting on the district’s website, Trail said: “Red Rock Elementary has experienced significant damage due to flooding and will be closed Monday, Jan. 9, and potentially longer.

Trail doesn’t have a hard date set yet for the Red Rock students’ return to their school. But he said they may be able to return on Tuesday, Jan. 18.

“We have en extra day in there (for damage repair) with Martin Luther King Day,” he said.

JRCC (emergency water damage specialists) dispatched crews from Moses Lake, Ellensburg and Wenatchee to begin immediate clean-up and restoration on Monday, Trail reported.

“While we appreciate the outpouring of offers to help, for safety purposes, we respectfully ask you to refrain from entering the building until further notification,” Trail said.

Trail said the district’s insurance provider, Clear Risk Solutions, has been contacted. It has been assessing the situation.

Except for Monday’s winter weather shutdown, Trail anticipates that all other buildings will be running on schedule the rest of this week.

The district posted a similar message in Spanish.