An elementary school in Rochester, New Hampshire, is being shut down permanently after being deemed unsafe, and 88 students are now being reassigned to other schools just weeks before the new academic year begins.
The Nancy Loud School, which hosts grades kindergarten through fourth, is being immediately closed following a structural assessment and vote by the school board Thursday night that supported a recommendation by administration to shut it down.
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The elementary school was scheduled to be closed in 2025, coinciding with the opening of a new school building on Salmon Falls Road. However, following the heavy rain recently, the Rochester School District requested that outside structural engineers take a look at the building's condition ahead of the school year starting.
The review showed that the building is unsafe, a news release from the district said, and it revealed that the foundation had deteriorated and settled, leading to walls on one part of the school to become displaced.
It will cost at least $280,000 to temporarily shore up the walls, the news release said.
District administrators are now working to reassign the 88 students to other schools. Staff will all get other jobs in the district. School officials are working to keep students and staff together as much as they can.
The Nancy Loud School opened in 1880.
A forum is scheduled for Aug. 10 from 5 to 7 p.m. to provide community members more information about the reassignment plan at city hall.
