Middle school making room for elementary students
Published 6:00 pm Tuesday, August 1, 2017
OAKDALE — Some Oakdale Elementary students will be back in classes at a new campus this fall after a massive fire destroyed most of the elementary school in late May.
“We are at the point we just need luck,” Oakdale Elementary School Principal Kay Randolph said. “Hopefully everything will work out. At first it’s going to be trial and error. We have a “Plan B” as backup to many of our plans.”
Randolph said about 300 students in grades pre-kindergarten through first grade will remain in what is left of the old campus while those in grades 2-4 will be relocated to the middle school campus, which houses grades 5-8.
Fire walls and safety doors prevented the fire from spreading to the adjacent, newer section of the elementary school which continue to house the pre-K through first grade.
“The middle school had a couple of wings that used to be the alternative school,” Randolph said. “We have went in and redid some of the classrooms to make room for our students.”
{{tncms-inline alignment=”center” content=”<p>&ldquo;<em>It has been a heartbreak for all of us involved. We are still crying because we will not all be together.</em>&rdquo;</p> <p style="text-align: right;">Kay Randolph&nbsp;</p>” id=”9b26be77-f3ad-4185-b8cd-b763297e5807″ style-type=”quote” title=”Pull Quote” type=”relcontent” width=”full”}}
Randolph praised teachers, aides, custodians and other personnel for working so hard to ensure that the school will be ready when students return on Wednesday, Aug. 9.
“It’s been a lot of work, but everyone has really pulled together,” she said.
She thanked residents, educators and businesses from Oakdale and surrounding communities for donating books, school supplies and other items needed to get the school back on its feet.
“We are ready to go,” she said.
The school’s library, media room and several classrooms bore the brunt of the fire.
“Once it got to the library it was beast,” she said. “There was no stopping it.”
Fire, smoke and water damage was reported in other areas of the school including the lobby, cafeteria, music room and physical education room and gym.
Officials are still surveying the damage to those areas to see how much of the remaining structure can be salvaged.
She said many people have donated books to replace the school’s 13,000-plus books that were loss in the fire.
School officials have spent the summer juggling transportation schedules, class schedules, personnel and food service requirements at both campuses.
A building is being put in place to operate as a full cafeteria to temporarily feed students at the old campus, while students relocated to the middle school will share the cafeteria with high school and middle school students.
Randolph said the most difficult task for herself, faculty members and the community has been accepting the fact that the old Oakdale Elementary School is no longer there.
“It has been a heartbreak for all of us involved,” she said. “We are still crying because we will not all be together.”
The loss of the school was a big hit for Randolph who is in her 13th year as principal, having previously served as an assistant principal for five years. She also taught at the school.
“I’ve been here most of my career as a teacher and an administrator,” she said. “This is home. I am heartbroken knowing that everything we did at this school … every activity, every piece of furniture was put here with the children in mind. That is all gone.”
While the students and faculty will be separated until a new school is built, administrators are working to plan activities to involve the whole school. She hopes to have a schoolwide picnic between the two campuses and is working on programs to involve both campuses.
“We have a strong faculty and a strong community,” she said. “There is no doubt that we are going to be able to handle this year and do it with grace.”
Randolph and Superintendent Michael Doucet have already discussed plans to rebuild and have been talking with architect Paul LeMaire of the Corne-LeMarie Group in Lafayette on tentative plans for a new school. That construction is likely to take two years to complete.
Temporary metal walls have been placed around much of the burned out site which has been cleaned of the debris by Pat Williams Construction Co. of Leesville. Construction workers have spent the last three weeks cleaning the concrete slab of twisted and charred debris.
Investigators believe the fire was started by an electrical malfunction in the center portion of the school above the ceiling near a computer lab.
“It has been a heartbreak for all of us involved. We are still crying because we will not all be together.”
Kay Randolph
The concrete slab and partial metal beams are all that remain of a major portion of Oakdale Elementary School destroyed by a massive fire in late May. Students in grades pre-kindergarten through first grade will remain in what is left of the old campus while those in grades 2-4 will be relocated to the middle school campus which houses grades 5-8.
Fire, smoke and water damage was reported in the lobby, cafeteria, music room and physical education room/gym following a late May fire that completely destroyed other parts of the school. Officials are still surveying the damage to those areas to see how much of the remaining structure can be salvaged.
