On the night of December 24, 2024, the Farragut Wing of the middle school flooded due to a cracked pipeline located in the attic of Farragut Middle School. The water continued to flow from the pipe for twenty-four hours before alarms sounded. After the alarms went off, the Hastings Fire Department arrived at the school immediately. However, they found the Farragut Wing of the school considerably water-damaged. The middle school office, many classrooms, books, and supplies teachers have collected over the years were damaged.
Following the flood, district and building leadership got to work evaluating what had to be done to restore the school to a usable state. They announced that the district’s insurance policy would cover many expenses resulting from the flood, but not upgrades like installing energy-efficient lighting and other improvements. To cover these costs, the Board of Education approved a budget of up to $300,000 to be spent on necessary repairs and work not covered by insurance.
Prior to the flood, district leadership had planned renovations to Farragut Middle School’s facilities to be funded by a proposed Capital Bond. The flood reconstruction has provided an opportunity to get some components of the construction completed in a less costly way.
Hastings School District Business Official and Treasurer, Maureen Caraballo, explained that “there is an opportunity to do [upgrades] while the building is in the state it’s in currently because when you do construction you have to remove ceilings and all the rest.” Since ceilings and walls have already been removed, the installation of new lighting and fire suppression systems are now more cost-effective.
Mrs. Caraballo also explained that installing a new upgraded lighting system “not only gives us an opportunity to upgrade lighting, but upgraded lighting is typically more energy efficient as well,” which will assist the school in future energy savings.
In the original Capital Bond proposal, renovations to the fifth-grade hallway and the sixth/seventh-grade English hallway were estimated to cost approximately $2 million to $2.5 million. Some of the upgrades that were originally included in the Capital Bond proposal can be completed more efficiently now with the funds the Board of Education approved for upgrades. The work that is being done in connection with the repairs will decrease the cost of the Capital Bond.
Superintendent Dr. McKersie affirms the district’s dedication to utilizing the opportunity to make improvements more cost-effective, stating that he is “very committed to bringing forward to the Board to approve a bond level that we think is affordable for the Hastings residents and taxpayers.”
According to Mrs. Caraballo, the administration will continue to discuss ways to “take advantage of the way things are now to save us money in the future…whether it be through the bond or through the budget.”
While the flood has been an extreme inconvenience for the Farragut Middle School community, it has allowed the district to undertake much-needed repair work and upgrades that will benefit students and staff.
