Storm Damage Forces Era ISD To Close
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ERA (CBSDFW.COM) - Flooding from Thursday night's storms presented a big problem for one North Texas school district. Officials with the Era Independent School District were forced to cancel all classes on Friday when the district's only building suffered significant weather damage.
The school district is located just north of Denton, and instructs students from kindergarten through 12th grade.
And it is easy to understand why there are no classes on Friday. A quick look around the campus showed problem areas both inside and outside of the building. A piece of metal was ripped from the school's roof. A tree in front of the campus was snapped in half. Air conditioning units were blown away, leaving huge holes in building's ceiling.
The holes meant that rain poured down into the school, leaving damage to the classrooms as well. There were a total of eight rooms that suffered extensive damage, including destroyed computers.
Teachers and staff members -- including the superintendent -- were at the campus on Friday to mop up the mess. "The sadness is for these teachers, because there are things that are destroyed," said superintendent Jeremy Thompson. "But we will rebuild. They are great teachers and staff, and everybody has a good attitude."
Lisa Jones teaches kindergarten students, but her classroom's ceiling caved in. She was initially worried that artwork of her students would be trashed. "My first worry was their little Mother's Day projects they've made all week," Jones said on Friday. "They are fine!"
The hope is to have the school open again by Monday, even if some individual classrooms are still being repaired. That plan could be dashed if the roof is not fixed before more storms roll through the area on Friday afternoon.