Students at the Building 21 High School will be learning virtually until at least Friday, May 5, after water damage caused two stairwells in the building to be closed off.
The high school in West Oak Lane is closed again for in-person learning just one day after reopening after asbestos was found in the school, the School District of Philadelphia announced Wednesday.
Tuesday evening, plaster fell from one of the school’s third floor stairwells causing it to be closed off to students and staff. The school had the building inspected and determined there was water damage in two of its stairwells from the weekend's rainfall.
No students were in the building at the time that the plaster fell from the stairwell, the school district said.
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The school district said the building was inspected and cleared for re-entry on May 1, but with the stairwells closed the building didn’t meet code requirements.
Students learned virtually Wednesday and the school district said it would have the building further assessed and provide an update by Friday, May 5.
“We know this is frustrating news on the day after we have celebrated your return. But, the health and well-being of our students and staff must be our top priority,” Oz Hill, Chief Operating Officer for the school district, said.
The plaster in Building 21 was for years marked safe by inspectors on building reports. The district now says those records were “incomplete or inaccurate."
Building 21 had reopened Tuesday, May 2, after moving to virtual learning back in March when asbestos was found in the school.
