Repairs are still underway after a burst frozen pipe flooded classrooms on three floors and displaced 33 teachers, according to David Narain, assistant principal of operations at Oak Park and River Forest High School.

The flooding occurred on Jan. 18, after a period of extremely cold weather. 

The third floor was closest to the pipe and was hit the hardest, but the water dripped down to the second and first floors. The first-floor damage was minimal, and all first-floor rooms have been restored, Narain said.

Initially, teachers were moved into spaces in the library, cafeterias and common spaces, along with other classrooms. When it was determined that this would be a more long-term situation, teachers were moved into other teachers’ classrooms. An estimated 84 classes have been moved, Narain said.

 Most affected teachers were math and science teachers, and it was difficult to find rooms that would accommodate those particular classes. “It’s one thing to say the room is vacant,” Narain said. “It’s another thing to say that the class that has been moved can be taught in that space. Science classrooms and math classrooms sometimes require specialized equipment, so if you’re trying to do a lab experiment, it’s not easy to do that in an English classroom that doesn’t have access to, you know, beakers and things like that.” 

English, history, and language classrooms have been utilized as relocation spots more than other areas. Andrea Gamache, who teaches geometry in a third-floor room affected by the flood, said, “I think every teacher is handling it really well, and nobody’s overtly displeased or unhappy. It’s just an inconvenience, but we have to all just pivot, adjust and go with the flow.” Gamache has been moved back into her old classroom as of Feb. 20. 

The changes have been difficult for students as well. Keegan Knight, a sophomore in Gamache’s first-period class, said, “It took me a good week. I also was always rechecking my emails to make sure that we weren’t switching classes. I had also been late to class multiple times because they were constantly changing which classroom we were in the first week.”

Some repairs have already been completed. A couple of first-floor classrooms, such as the engineering lab and woodshop, were restored as early as Jan. 29. Four math classrooms were returned to use on Feb. 20, and two more math classrooms are expected to be under repair until the end of March, according to Narain. 

As for specific damage caused by the flood, Narain said, “Water will seep into every crack and crevice. It will go under walls…they’ve done things like take down walls entirely. They’ve moved cabinetry off the walls and detached countertops from walls.” 

The school’s insurance paid for the repairs, according to a notice posted on the Board of Education’s website. The insurance company, ICRMT, hired a company called ServPro to mitigate the damage and restore the rooms at an estimated cost of $254,929.33. ICRMT will pay for repairs, minus a 50,000 deductible. 

The flooding itself is not the only thing keeping teachers and students out of their classrooms. The repairs for the flood have uncovered asbestos under the floors. Asbestos is generally safe when not disturbed, but the repairs have put asbestos particles in the air. According to Narain, Asbestos was found in only two classrooms. A professional team was called in to remove it, and they work only after school has been let out.