Altoona Area Junior High School students and staff returned back to school Tuesday after a water break last Monday caused some damage to the school’s electrical outlets and carpets.

Several outside vendors worked diligently throughout last week to get the building ready for the students’ return Tuesday, Superintendent Brad Hatch said in a letter to parents.

According to Hatch, some electrical outlets need to be replaced and the school’s library will remain closed this week while officials continue their cleanup efforts there.

Some of the materials officials had to dispose of included boxes of paper and old records as well as the affected drywall, insulation and ceiling tiles, Hatch said.

“We’re still assessing and evaluating drywall, furniture, some of those kinds of pieces,” he said, adding the ongoing construction and repair efforts are being completed after school hours.

During Tuesday’s school board meeting, the board authorized a request to contract with Servpro Cleaning, Restoration and Construction to perform mitigation and construction work at the school.

Approval was also given for administrators to retroactively contract with individual contractors, including — but not limited to — Krater Electric, Mountain Research and Bettwy Systems to make specialized repairs related to the incident.

Payment, with the exception of a $25,000 deductible, will be made by the district’s insurance carrier, Hatch said.

“This allows us to submit billing to the insurance claim,” Hatch said after the meeting. “For the next

12 months, if we have issues, we would be able to file onto that insurance claim.”

According to Hatch, the district completed a comprehensive cleanup throughout the weekend and had all systems tested for air quality by Mountain Research on Monday.

The samples were delivered to a lab in Latrobe to be analyzed and the results showed that the school’s air quality was “very good” and considered normal.

“They said, ‘It’s perfect. There’s no reason not to bring students back in,'” Hatch said, noting district officials were sensitive to students with medical issues and concerns about mold.

“We passed with flying colors. Kids were back in person today,” he said.

At about 8:45 a.m. last Monday, Feb. 9, a joint on the water sprinkler system failed in a custodial storage room adjacent to the school’s cafeteria, Hatch said, adding there was about four to five inches of standing water in the school’s cafeteria complex at one point.

The water then spread out into the hallway and adjacent offices, classrooms, the auditorium and the library, he said.

By 2:45 p.m. that day, no standing water remained and Servpro was on site by 5 p.m. to take over the extraction and clean up efforts, Hatch said.

“When you have situations of that nature that happen unexpectedly, you hope that the plans that you put in place get put into action and work,” Hatch said before commending first responders and the district’s maintenance staff for their work.

During Tuesday’s meeting, Hatch also commended the district’s students and their parents for their patience and understanding.

School board member Mike Pappas echoed Hatch’s praise and also commended the district’s cafeteria, nursing and police services staff for their work.

Pappas said Hatch, assistant superintendents Mark Harrington and Haley

Fleegle, principals David Campbell and Andrew Neely and all their assistant principals went “above and beyond the call” to handle the situation promptly.

“We have great leadership in place and it showed that day,” Pappas said.

Val Mignogna, the board’s president, said the administrators’ handling of the situation resulted in the first positive email he received from a parent in more than four years.

In the email, the parent reportedly praised Hatch and his team, stating, “They did a great job and couldn’t have handled that any better,” Mignogna said.

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.