Several classrooms at Sturgis Middle School were damaged by water over holiday break when a pipe from a fire suppression system burst.

Several classrooms at Sturgis Middle School were damaged by water over holiday break when a pipe from a fire suppression system burst.
Sturgis Public Schools business manager Ray Sterling addressed the issue Monday at a meeting of the board of education.
He said the pipe broke on the fourth floor of the building, causing damage to about eight classrooms on the floors below it.
Those eight classrooms will be unusable for about the next month, Sterling said.
“It more than likely will be an inconvenience for a month or so for the staff and students of the middle school,” he said.
Sterling said likely the pitch of the fire suppression system was not right.
Sterling said water was turned off within 30-40 minutes of the pipe burst.
“There’s some technology that we probably lost,” he said. “We just need to make sure that what’s lost or damaged will be repaired or replaced.”
Middle school principal Laura Pressly said teachers in nine classrooms have been placed in other areas of the school.
“We’ll have teachers in the media center,” she said. “Two of the computer labs were still saved, so we’ll have classes in there. We’re going to have to use the science lab ... We’ll use the band room.”
Sterling thanked all those who have been involved, from those who organized students returning to school to those soaking up floors or trying to save things on teachers’ desks.
“A lot of people helped out so I appreciate it,” he said.
Prior to the board of education meeting, superintendent Tom Langdon said an estimate of the cost of the damage has not yet been determined.
He said the insurance company was impressed with the response of maintenance director Robert Taylor, who caught the issue quickly.
“Many staff members stepped up to go above and beyond to take care of the issue before it became even worse than what we’re looking at right now,” Langdon said.
Several board members also thanked middle school staff and others for their efforts during this difficult time, among them board president Ann Bird.
“I will echo the thanks to everyone who worked on the middle school water issue,” she said. “I’m so sorry for the teachers whose classrooms were impacted.”