Wood End Students Miss Second Day For Snow Removal

Update: Wood End students will return to classes tomorrow.

Original Article:

Students at the stayed home Tuesday for the second consecutive school day as the district continued its efforts to clear snow from the school’s roof.

Mary DeLai, the district’s director of finances and operations, said that the superintendent cancelled classes for the sake of safety because workers would be heaving snow from a considerable height in close proximity to the building.

The administration began a district-wide project to clear snow from school roofs at the end of January, DeLai said, but has paid particular attention to the Wood End school.

As the district’s newest school, she said, “it has never been subjected to this load.”

“This past weekend, two structural engineers came out, including the one who designed the building,” DeLai said. “His statement to us is that the building is performing as it was designed to.”

Delai said the district is also paying close attention to buildings that have had additional weight added to their roofs since their construction, including Parker Middle School.

The district’s caution comes at a time when the state has suffered an of roof collapses that triggered an alert from Governor Deval Patrick. That wave struck Reading last week, sending one family to seek alternate housing for the immediate future.

But the district’s caution also comes with a price tag during a time of . As of Monday night, DeLai said the district had spent about $24,000 in overtime costs and contracting fees to clear the roofs. She said she expected this winter’s continuing costs to add as much as $12,000 to that amount, for a total price tag “in the neighborhood of $35,000.”