Story originally printed in the Winona Daily News or online at www.winonadailynews.com
Published - Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Area charter schools postpone start dates
While thousands of other area students went back to school Tuesday, others from two area charter schools did not.
Students from Riverway Learning Community in Minnesota City and Ridgeway Community School in Houston will start their school year Monday.
The schools postponed its academic year a week because of recent flooding and had planned a late start since that time. Ridgeway Community School decided Tuesday its students will return next week instead of this week.
Schools planned to contact parents to let them know about the start dates.
Both schools were working on construction projects it planned before the Aug. 18 and 19 floods. Ridgeway Community School was renovating its roof when storms brought in more than a foot of rain, said director Jodi Dansingburg. The school announced in March it was starting a $1.8 million renovation project that adds classrooms and updates its library.
The school since then has continued its construction, but progress was delayed by the storm damage, she said. It has replaced its roof and carpet, and is waiting on a state inspection of its plumbing system. School officials have not yet estimated costs of the damage.
At Riverway Learning Community, the school building was not affected by the floods, but its employees and students were, said director Laurie Krause.
The school’s construction project also ran later than expected, Krause said. The project renovates the school’s kitchen area, adding its first commercially licensed kitchen. It serves food but cannot cook in its kitchen.
The charter schools don’t expect any of the enrolled students to transfer schools.
All stories copyright 2000 - 2006 Winona Daily News and other attributed sources.