Storm Damage Repairs Continue at Upper Dublin High School & Fort Washington Elementary

UPPER DUBLIN, PA — The upcoming school year was already poised to begin unlike most scholastic years thanks to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Then came the powerful tornado and the near-historic flooding.

As Hurricane Ida blew through the region last week, it caused extensive damage throughout Upper Dublin in particular, tearing the roof of the municipal complex and police department headquarters and causing widespread damage to local schools.

“This has certainly been a Labor Day like no other,” Upper Dublin School District Superintendent Steven Yanni said during a Sept. 6 status update video to the community.

A large section of the roof at Fort Washington Elementary School had been damaged during the Sept. 1 tornado tied to Hurricane Ida, and roof repairs were scheduled to begin on Sept. 6, Yanni stated. A full replacement of certain roof sections was also planned to begin this week.

“We are cautiously optimistic that this work will accelerate opening that building,” Yanni stated.

Yanni has prided himself on being super transparent with the community during his time as superintendent in Upper Dublin. He takes care to ensure school district families are kept up to speed on everything from pandemic related news to this latest storm recovery.

“I hope you know by now, you all will know what we know as soon as we know it,” he said in the video.

On another community status update the following day, Yanni told the community that crews had been working to dry out both Fort Washington Elementary and the Upper Dublin High School. Most of the tornado-related damage to the high school was on the outside of the building while the elementary school requires both exterior and interior remediation.

Over at the high school, crews were planning to deliver equipment to provide temporary ventilation for the building, with the units planned to be onsite by Thursday. The district said that proper ventilation is key to reopening the high school safely.

Yanni said that even though there are presently worker shortages and supply chain shortages across the country due to the pandemic, the district was certain it would be able to obtain at least temporary ventilation equipment to the high school.

At the elementary school, in addition to the roof work, new lighting was being installed in several classrooms and all life safety equipment, such as fire alarms, were in the process of being recommissioned to ensure the safe reopening of the building.

Last week’s storm couldn’t have come at a worse time, as Wednesday was scheduled as the first day of school in Upper Dublin. The new school year was already mired by controversy as some parents across the county and state pushed back against a new universal mask mandate for school students in all grades regardless of vaccination status.

Last week, Pennsylvania health officials ordered that all students across the commonwealth wear face coverings while indoors as COVID-19 infection rates continue to rise. The move came after many Pennsylvania school boards failed to enact their own masking policy prior to the start of the 2021-22 school year.

As for the storm-related damage, virtual instruction was scheduled to take place for high schoolers and students at Fort Washington Elementary School on Thursday and Friday as storm remediation work continued.

A decision is expected to be made over the weekend as for when students in those two storm-damaged schools could return to in-person learning.