WEST PARIS, Maine — Parents and students in West Paris are left feeling gutted after receiving an abrupt call Tuesday morning informing them of the closure of their local elementary school.
The Agnes Gray Elementary School, built in the late 1800s has been a staple of the community for generations of families, until now.
"We weren't expecting anything like that; when we heard 'no school,' at first we thought it was just a snow day. And when we opened up the curtains there was no snow, so," Robert Hall, a parent of Agnes Gray students, said.
Instead, parents received a call (and later an email) from the district saying the building was unsafe to enter, and that the school was to be closed for the time being.
Superintendent Heather Manchester told NEWS CENTER Maine that earlier last year, the district hired Lavallee and Brensinger Architecture firm to conduct a study of multiple buildings within the district, including Agnes Gray.
It wasn't until a presentation on the condition of the elementary school Monday night that the district understood the severity of the building's poor conditions: multiple maintenance and safety concerns such as a lack of fire alarms and issues with sanitary plumbing.
"We are kind of shaken up, we don't know what we're going to do. We had events planned, we had field trips planned," resident Kylie Guy said.
Manchester said while the school is closed, it is up to the town and school board to approve either the demolition or renovation of Agnes Gray or the construction of a brand-new school altogether.
"I think we've been due for a new school for a long time. It's a historical monument and a lot of people have feelings on that personally but it's more that we have a local school," Guy added.
While some students this week are instructed to continue education online, others are being sent to nearby schools still in the district and will still be with their original teachers. However, some parents are disappointed at the last-minute notice of the school's closure.
"Now we're going to be in three different buildings; thankfully we'll still have the teachers that they know," Julie White said, "Why was it made? Why was that call made at 5 o'clock in the morning?" White asked.