Start Of Classes Delayed For NE Philly School Due To Structural Issues
By Mike DeNardo
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Next week's start of classes will be disrupted for hundreds of students at a Northeast Philadelphia elementary school, because of structural issues in the school building.
Days before the scheduled September 8 start of classes at Solis-Cohen Elementary School on Tyson Avenue, came the discovery that concrete beams supporting the floor were crumbling.
District spokesman Fernando Gallard says engineering firms have been hired to repair the building, which was built in the 1940s and '50s.
"We're making sure that the space in the school itself is safe for students when they return. But we won't be able to use the entire building."
One-thousand first-through fourth-graders will start school a week late, on September 16. Three hundred and seventy fifth and sixth-graders will be relocated to the nearby Wilson Middle School for the entire year.
Informational meetings for parents are planned for 6 p.m. at Wilson on Thursday and Friday.