Students From Flooded Danville School Resume Classes Elsewhere

Classes resume Monday morning for the 274 students of Cannon Elementary School in Danville --- but not in their flood-damaged school building. Instead, Cannon students will take their classes a mile to the north, in a wing of Mark Denman Elementary School --- the former East Park School.

To make room for the Cannon students, pre-K classes at Denman have been moved to Southwest Elementary School, about five miles away. Danville Mass Transit has added an additional afternoon trip to its 13 Tilton route, to accomodate the pre-K students and their parents.

District 118 closed the Cannon School building more than two weeks ago, due to flooding caused by heavy rains during the winter holiday break. The flooding damaged the school’s basement, which houses classrooms, the school library and cafeteria. District Superintendent Dr. Alicia Geddis says they now have to determine the extent of the damage.

“We hope to know what our plan of action can be within these next couple of weeks," said Geddis. "We are waiting for estimates and actual reports on what is wrong and what needs to be repaired.”

While classes have been on hold for Cannon School students, District 118 offered supervised activities for them at the Danville Boys and Girls Club and the Laura Lee

Last week, an environmental consultant told the Danville school board that mold was found in the Cannon School basement that could pose a health hazard without a careful cleanup. Geddis says they’re still waiting to find out the extent of other building damage. She says District 118 has applied for emergency state funding to repair the building.