MOUNT VERNON, N.Y. — Students were expecting a tough week here at Mount Vernon High School, trying not to fall apart as they slogged through third-quarter exams and prepared for Advanced Placement exams and Regents tests.
They never thought it would be part of their school that fell apart.
Classes were canceled after a 100-foot section of wall in the auditorium collapsed around 4:30 p.m. Monday. The noisy avalanche exposed steel beams and wires and damaged three nearby classrooms used for woodworking, television production and R.O.T.C. meetings.
The nearest students were on a practice field on the other side of the building, and no one was injured, district officials said.
State and district officials immediately closed the 1,400-student high school, built in 1963, to determine whether it was structurally stable and to test for possible asbestos contamination.
On Thursday, yellow police tape stretched across the school property, and a police officer and security guard kept passers-by from coming onto the grounds. Mount Vernon has two other high schools.
W. L. Sawyer, the superintendent, said that preliminary investigation indicated the problem was limited to the collapsed wall and that classes would resume on Monday.
Inspectors found that cinderblocks were not properly anchored to steel beams during the construction of that part of the wall, but that the rest of the building was safe.
Officials said they would keep the area around the collapsed wall cordoned off.
Some students and nearby residents complained this week that the high school had been poorly maintained.
“It wasn’t a surprise, because there are leaks all over the building that aren’t fixed or repaired,” said Chelsea Hamlet, 18, a senior, who saw a picture of the collapsed wall on a friend’s cellphone.
Still, she said that she was recently in the auditorium for an Easter service and saw no indication of a problem.
Marian Barksdale, a 1973 Mount Vernon High graduate who once had a locker near the auditorium, said that maintenance issues might have been compounded by torrential rains that saturated Westchester this year. “It was probably already weakened and all the rain didn’t help,” she said “That was the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
Dr. Sawyer acknowledged that the district had struggled to maintain its buildings for many years because of budget problems. But, he said, other than a leaky roof, he knew of no structural problems at the high school. “This had nothing to do with maintenance,” he said.
He also said there was no indication that the heavy rain played a role in the collapse.
Mount Vernon is a working-class city of 68,000 where three-quarters of the 10,000 students qualify for free or low-price lunches.
State education officials said that Mount Vernon High School had not been cited previously for any deficiencies in building conditions and had a valid certificate of occupancy.
A major wall collapse at a school in this area in 1989 killed seven children when a tornado tore through a cafeteria at East Coldenham Elementary School in the Valley Central School District in Orange County.
Dr. Sawyer said the high school was trying to make up the four missed days by making at least one professional day for teachers a school day, and is reviewing other options so that it will not have to extend classes past June 25, s the last scheduled school day.
“There’s no time that’s good to lose four days, but when the elements are against you, what can you do?” he said.
Dr. Sawyer said that the district might also seek a waiver from the State Education Department if it cannot make up all the time. State education officials said that they would consider such a request.
Many students said they were enjoying the unexpected break.
Dwight Glin, 17, a senior, said he slept until 9:30 a.m. on Thursday. After a bowl of Froot Loops, he headed to the library to watch music videos and check online for news about the school.
If the school had not been closed, he would have been answering questions about enzymes and respiration on a biology exam, he said.
“It’s good to get another break from school,” he said. “I rub it in with my friends” who go to different schools. “I’m like ‘So how was school? Well, you know what? I didn’t have school today.’ They just get mad.”
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