Oswego East High School students return to in-person learning after flood damage
OSWEGO, Ill. (WLS) -- Thousands of students in the far western suburbs headed back to class Wednesday morning, after damage from flooding.
The Oswego East High School principal says some areas still need work, but most of the school is ready for its 2,700 students to return from two days of e-learning.
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After only two days of in-person learning last week for the start of the 2025 school year, students are now back in the classroom.
"It's a little tough, obviously it's not ideal, but you gotta do it," parent Mitch Massaro said. "We gotta adapt."
Eleven schools, nearly half in the district, had water damage from recent rains.
Oswego East, the hardest hit after a third floor drain pipe failed sending water cascading down to the first floor.
"Where essentially, it was just widespread," Kristen Campbell, assistant superintendent for District 308, said. "We had classrooms, hallways, offices, conference rooms that were impacted."
School ceilings, walls, and floors were waterlogged and damaged.
Leaders ensure the building is safe for students to return, although some parents are slightly concerned about the air quality.
"Breathing that in and I just asked him if they have air-conditioning and he said yeah they do so I hope it's OK for the kids to come back," parent Nneka Greenfield said.
"They have been actually going through and doing mapping of the impacted areas to see what type of water still remains...really forcing air into those places and then continuing to do the water mapping to see how is that handling," Oswego East High School Principal Laura Bankowski said.
"We've been having check-in meetings throughout the day about what the results are telling us and everything is safe and we're able to have people come back to the building," Campbell said.
Although students returned to in-person learning today, school leaders say it could take several weeks to fully repair all the damage.
