August 27, 2019 by Carol Britton Meyer
It's time for Hingham Public Schools students to hit the books as the first day of school fast approaches.
The return date is Tuesday, Sept. 3, for grades 1 to 12. The first day of school for kindergartners is Thursday, Sept. 5 -- except for children entering kindergarten at East School due to ongoing repairs in the kindergarten wing following a flooding incident last Friday. Their first day of school is Tuesday, Sept. 10.
In the meantime, an email from East School Principal Tony Keady let parents know that while the restoration work is progressing, the kindergarten and fourth-grade hallways will be closed during the Thursday, Aug. 29, Open House -- to visit classrooms and meet classmates -- from 2 to 3 p.m., with alternate arrangements made for the students in those grades on that day.
Due to the ongoing work, there will be very limited parking on Thursday at East School. "The parking lot on the right side of the building is being used by the restoration company for their equipment and storage containers," Keady said. "It is extremely important that families carpool or walk/bike to East Thursday if they are attending the Open House."
According to new Supt. of Schools Paul Austin, who the Hingham Anchor contacted by email, there was a flooding issue Aug. 23 at East following the installation of a plumbing fixture for a water-filling station on the second floor.
"The flooding was the result of a sink faucet being left open (with an engaged sink stopper) after the plumbing fixture was installed and the water main was turned back on," Austin said. "The running water was not detected until early Sunday morning."
The flooding damaged four classrooms on the second floor (fourth-grade wing) and four classrooms on the first floor (kindergarten wing). "Crews have been working around the clock to clean and begin the restoration process, and they have made substantial progress," Austin said. "Thanks to the efforts of the cleaning and restoration crews, we are confident that the second-floor fourth-grade classrooms will be ready for students on the first day of school next Tuesday, Sept. 3.
"However, the restoration to the first-floor rooms will take a bit longer, and the start of kindergarten will be delayed until Tuesday, Sept. 10 [for East School kindergartners only]," Austin said.
To sum it up, East will open as scheduled for all students -- except kindergarten -- on Tuesday, Sept. 3, with a delayed opening the following Tuesday, Sept. 10, for East School kindergartners -- three school days later than kindergartners at Plymouth River, South, and Foster elementary schools will start their school year.
Damage estimates are not available at this time, according to Austin. "We anticipate submitting claims to our insurance company to cover the cost of all repairs," he said.