COVINGTON, Ky. — Parents at Latonia Elementary School got their first look at the school's repairs after a roof collapse kept their children out of classrooms for weeks.
Dozens of families toured areas near the collapse site, including the entrance to the gymnasium and the second floor directly above it. The roof over the gymnasium collapsed on New Year's Eve, causing the district to move students to remote learning.
Since the collapse, crews have completed emergency stabilization work and a controlled demolition of the damaged sections. During Monday's tour, some cracks remained visible in second-floor walls.
School officials said the structure is safe for students and staff.
"We would not be in this building if this cafeteria or this school was not deemed safe," said Alvin Garrison, superintendent of Covington Independent Public Schools.
Hear more of what parents had to say about the school's reopening in the video below:
Covington Battalion Chief Chris Alsip told us crews were called to the school at around 11:10 p.m. New Year's Eve after reports of a roof collapse. A district spokesperson said no one was inside the building and no injuries were reported.
By 1:30 a.m., that scene had cleared, but the building was still blocked off near the area where a long crack appeared to have formed in the side of the building.
Casey, a building engineer working on the project, said he would allow his own children to return to the school.
"I would let my own children come back into this school, so we did everything we could again, working with school officials. We had a final walk-through with the fire department," he said.
Some parents left the tour saying they felt confident about safety measures.
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"I think it's safe. They went on it quick. They got rid of all the danger, really," said Craig Cornett, a Latonia Elementary parent.
But others remained skeptical. Tabitha Hatton, whose child's classroom is located next to the collapse area, said she had concerns about young students being in that section of the building.
"I'm not saying that school is unsafe everywhere in the school building. But I don't think that our first graders, our kindergartners or our second graders need to be on that side of the building," Hatton said.
Students have been learning remotely since Jan 5. The district says student safety remains its top priority.
Engineers were scheduled to complete a final structural assessment of the building last week.
The district says in-person classes will resume on Tuesday.
