By Richard Kaufman
With portions of Cos Cob School expected to remain closed until the end of December due to a significant water leak that occurred last weekend, the Greenwich Public School District has announced a relocation plan for faculty, staff and several grades.
The relocation plan will be implemented on Monday, Oct. 15. This week, the YWCA of Greenwich and Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich generously offered free childcare services for families of CCS students.
The Relocation Plan
Kindergarten (four classes) will move to Parkway School, and grades 1-2 (seven classes) will go to Old Greenwich School. Grades 3-5 will remain at CCS on the third floor, which was not damaged by the flooding. Grade 3 will be moved from the second floor to the third floor.
In order to ensure all current K-2 bus students arrive at CCS in time to catch the bus to the relocation host schools, the current schedules for Buses CC1 and CC2 have been adjusted by approximately 30 minutes. Three buses will be added to transport students to Parkway and OGS from CCS as the hub stop.
CCS staff met on Wednesday to review and finalize the plan. They also visited students at the Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich, and the host schools to meet the administrations and see their room assignments.
Parents have received an information packet, and will attend a meeting tonight at Central Middle School for more details. CCS K-2 parents are invited to a Parent Coffee at the host schools on Saturday, Oct. 13, at 10:30 a.m. (K parents will meet at Parkway School; grade 1-2 parents at Old Greenwich School).
The transportation and bell times are as follows:
Incident Summary
On or around Saturday, Oct. 6, a plumbing fixture in the second floor art room broke, causing a flow of water to impact other areas of the building. The leak was discovered on Sunday, Oct. 7, after falling ceiling tiles triggered the motion detector arms, which alerted the Greenwich Police Department.
The Greenwich Fire Department, along with Mayo and CCS principal, Gene Schmidt, and other district and school facilities staff, reported to the school on Sunday night.
The following day, environmental and restoration contractors were secured to begin a formal assessment of the situation and to determine the extent of the water damage, clean-up, remediation and restoration of the school.
The extent of impacted space has been identified as on the second floor in the art room, the media center, computer room and maker space. On the first floor, in the nurse’s office, main office, three grade 1 classrooms, two kindergarten classrooms and the music room.
“It was not an easy decision to close portions of Cos Cob School for an extended period of time. However, in order to keep our children safe and provide necessary access for construction crews to expedite the restoration, it is the right decision,” said Interim Superintendent, Ralph Mayo, earlier this week.
“I understand that this decision will have a major impact on the Cos Cob and host school communities, but I am confident that, working together, we will develop a plan that ensures the continued education of our students and the safety of the school community. I would like to thank the entire community in advance for supporting the District to make this plan a reality.”
