A grade school east of Springfield is closed through Friday because of flooding.
Heavy rains caused Potter Creek near Walterville Elementary to overflow Wednesday night, flooding parts of the campus. The building will be assessed for repairs.
Springfield Public School District spokesperson Jen McCulley praised the efforts of their facilities team and school staff. She said teams were at the school early Thursday morning with sandbags ready to help.
“We had a crew that was working on some trenching to divert some of the water away from the building in the day, they were pumping it out, but there was about three to six inches depending on where you were at throughout the east wing and sort of the middle wing there, the office areas, and part of the library actually,” she said.
McCulley said most damage was kept to the ground and the school’s tech was left undamaged. She said it’s too soon to tell when classes will resume but said holding classes online or in other parts of the building are both options to get kids back to regular learning. Costs to repair damage are still being determined.
A flood watch is in effect for the area including Springfield and Eugene until Friday evening.
Update Jan. 10: Walterville Elementary school will transition to online learning until an in-person alternative is found.
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