Back to School
By Tim Pugmire
April 28, 1997

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High school classes are scheduled to resume this morning (April 28) in Ada, where students were displaced by floodwaters for three weeks. School officials must demolish the Ada-Borup High School due to severe water damage. The Department of Children, Families and Learning says 20 Minnesota school districts closed at least one day due to flooding. East Grand Forks was forced to end the school year more than a month early. Hundreds of students, teachers and administrators are working to reclaim their waterlogged schools and get back in business. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports.

SEVENTH THROUGH 12TH GRADE STUDENTS in Ada will finish their school year in temporary quarters including the elementary school, two churches and the 4 H building at the Norman County Fairgrounds. Ada elementary students returned to school last week. The Federal Emergency Management Agency permanently closed Ada High School and will pay to build a new facility. Principal Jim Christianson says the damage from river water and backed-up sewers was tremendous.

IT BECAME ABSORBED IN OUR CINDER BLOCK, EVEN BEHIND THE PLASTER. SO, IN ORDER TO SANITIZE THAT ALL IT WOULD HAVE MEANT REMOVING PLASTER TO GET AT THE CINDER BLOCK. IT WAS ABSORBED BY ALL OUR CEILING TILE, AND SO IT REALLY MEANT GUTTING THE ENTIRE BUILDING.

Christianson says FEMA gave the district just 18 months to build a new high school; a short time for a complicated project. He says there are many challenges ahead, but he's glad his students are returning to school after a traumatic three weeks.

THEY NEED TO COME BACK IN HERE. THEY NEED TO ASSOCIATE WITH THEIR PEERS AND WITH STAFF. THE STAFF HAS BEEN - WE'VE TALKED A LOT ABOUT ADDRESSING THE EMOTIONAL UPHEAVAL THEY'VE HAD. AND, IN FACT, OUR MINISTERIAL ASSOCIATION HERE AT ADA-BORUP WILL BE COMING IN TO VISIT WITH THE STUDENTS. WE HAVE ARRANGED FOR COUNSELORS TO BE HERE, AND SO WE WANT TO REALLY NOT FORGET WHAT THEY'VE BEEN THROUGH, WHAT STAFF HAS BEEN THROUGH.

There will be no return of students in East Grand Forks, where residents are still waiting for the Red River to give back their city. School officials concluded it might be June before some of the schools are fit to use again, so there was no point trying to finish out the year. Superintendent John Roche says district staff will be ready for students in the fall, but the buildings are another matter.

THREE OF OUR SCHOOLS, TWO ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS AND THE MIDDLE SCHOOL, ARE IN TOUGH TOUGH SHAPE. I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN TO THEM, BUT THE HIGH SCHOOL AND ONE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CAME OUT OF IT FAIRLY WELL. WE'RE GOING TO ABLE TO USE THOSE. I'M SURE WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO BE CREATIVE WHEN SCHOOL STARTS IN THE FALL. WE'RE GOING TO BE BACK IN BUSINESS; OUR SCHOOLS WILL BE OPERATIVE, BUT WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO DO SOME CREATIVE SCHEDULING TO UTILIZE THE FACILITIES THAT WE HAVE.

State education officials are allowing any Minnesota students displaced by floods to enroll for the remainder of the school year at another public school district. John Roche says East Grand Forks students have enrolled in Bemidji, Crookston, Fertile, Fosston, Thief River Falls, Warroad, and other districts. At Bemidji High School, Principal Ev Arnold is making room for flood refugees. He says he's urging more students staying in the area to enroll.

I THINK THE MORE STRUCTURE AND NORMALCY THEY CAN HAVE IN THEIR LIVES, THE EASIER IT IS TO COPE WITH THE TRAGEDY. BESIDES RATHER THAT THAN DO DEAD TIME AT HOME SITTING AROUND, AND BEING WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE ALREADY 'TWITTIN' TO GET OUT AND GET INVOLVED IN SOMETHING POSITIVE FOR THEIR LIVES I THINK IS A REAL PLUS.

One of Bemidji High School's new arrivals is 17-year-old Emily Horken. The senior from Sacred Heart Catholic High School in East Grand Forks is staying with relatives in Bemidji. Horken says she wants to participate in softball and stay active, but knows this won't be a normal spring.

IT'S ALWAYS GOING TO BE DIFFERENT. YOU KNOW, I WON'T HAVE MY GRADUATION. THEY'RE GOING TO TRY TO HAVE SOME SORT OF CEREMONY, BUT. . . . AND NO SENIOR PROM. . . . JUST A LOT OF THINGS LOST. BUT, THE IMPORTANT THING IS THAT THINGS ARE EASY TO REPLACE AND PEOPLE YOU CAN'T REPLACE EVER. SO, NO LIVES WERE LOST.

Teachers and administrators in flooded schools will spend several weeks calculating their material losses. The Minnesota School Boards Association is helping with the damage assessment, insurance claims, and applications for federal assistance. The association's John Sylvester says they're also linking schools that need supplies with schools willing to donate. He says all districts need to pitch in to help flooded schools recover and resume educational activities as soon as possible.

YOU KNOW, I THINK EVERYBODY'S GOING TO HAVE TO PULL TOGETHER TO TRY TO HELP THESE FOLKS. AS BAD AS THE SITUATION IS NOW, IT'S NOT GOING TO GET BETTER FOR QUITE SOME TIME, AND YOU KNOW YOU'VE GOT JUST ANY NUMBER OF SCHOOL KIDS WHO ARE GOING TO BE AFFECTED.

Jim Christianson says Ada High School has already received several offers of help from neighboring school districts. Despite the assistance, he says flooded school districts will need years to recover. East Grand Fork's John Roche says disasters have away of making communities, and school districts stronger. He says his district has a difficult year ahead, but then it's all downhill.

Return to Flood of 1997.