A fire and a flood caused damage to two schools this summer.
At Wednesday’s school board meeting, a summer project report outlined two “school disasters” that took place in August.
One was a fire in the gymnasium at Southern Okanagan Secondary School.
It was determined the fire was caused by an LED lamp not fully locked into position in the fixture. This caused an arcing spark when energy was supplied to the unit. The arc reportedly caused the ballast and fixture to catch fire and melt onto the gym floor.
The fire spread approximately two feet by two feet and eventually put itself out, but the melted plastic partially penetrated the wood floor.
A maintenance crew had to remove a large section of flooring and resurface it.
Two guide lines for the basketball hoop system were also damaged and had to be replaced.
The ceiling was scarred but structural investigators found the beam itself was not damaged.
The flood in Cawston Primary School was caused when a roofing contractor did not cover off work it was doing prior to a major rainfall that night.
The flooding impacted four classrooms that had to be restored.
Summer maintenance projects at Tuc-el-Nuit Elementary School included moving the day care and kindergarten classrooms (that switched ends).
There was also a sprinkler upgrade, gym floor resurfacing, exterior door upgrades, painting of gym interior, and repaving of front parking.
At the Oliver high school, the mezzanine room above the library was converted to a special needs room for students.
At Oliver Elementary, investigation is underway to establish a day care portable, and design drawings have begun to upgrade the washrooms next summer.
