RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) - Monday was like the first day of school for students at Fairfield Court Elementary in Richmond. The student body spent its first day of classes inside recently shuttered Clark Springs Elementary while officials tried to fix a leaking roof at their usual school building.
For more than a year, CBS 6 has reported facility issues at Fairfield Court Elementary, including one instance of a piece of the roof falling on a student.
Students will spend the rest of this school year at Clark Springs Elementary, a few miles away from Fairfield Court Elementary.
"Just wish they would have done it a little sooner because this is hectic," second grade parent Whitney Cavell said. "Some [parents] were a little upset this morning."
Richmond School Board member Donald Coleman admitted mistakes were made.
"The initial mistake was early on, when the roof started to leak, underestimating how bad a situation we had," Coleman said. He added progress was being made on the roof repairs and with reconditioning the inside of the school.
He said school officials hoped to reopen Fairfield Court Elementary this fall.
Parents voiced frustration with how the move was handled; however, some chose to use the experience of going to a new school building as a chance to teach their child a life lesson.
"She was kind of hesitant at first, but I told her it was a new school and sometimes you have to adjust in life," one parent said.
