Godby High School will reopen Monday after an onslaught of rain that left 80% of campus flooded

UPDATE: Godby High School will reopen Monday after an onslaught of rain that left 80% of the buildings on campus flooded.

District and Godby staff, cleanup crews and contractors worked through the weekend to ensure the school could open its doors to students after being closed Thursday and Friday.

"After a lot of hard work, Godby High School has passed all the necessary requirements to be OPEN for school on Monday, April 15, 2024," the school district posted on X. "Thank you to everyone who helped. Thank you, Principal Cole and the Godby teachers and staff. We will see you tomorrow."

The front office, which took the brunt of the damage, has been relocated to the media center for the time being. "There will be security outside our gate leading to the media center to escort parents/late students inside," the school posted on Facebook. "Please be sure to bring ID with you should you need to enter campus."

The full extent of flooding damage to the district also became clear as administrators continued to assess after as much of a foot of rain fell on parts of Tallahassee. Flooding also impacted:

• Kate Sullivan - Cafeteria and offices

• Ruediger - Building 5

• Riley - One classroom had flooded

• Nims - One classroom had water

• Lively PreK

• Leon baseball locker room and old gym

• Gretchen Everhart

• Buck Lake - Water intrusion caused a buried cable to burn out and caused other damage.

• Hartsfield

• Ghazvini gym

"We are grateful to our maintenance and construction employees for their tireless work these past few days," a district spokesperson wrote on Facebook. "Thank you to our community for your patience as we work to get back to 100 percent."

ORIGINAL STORY

Parents, staff and students won't hear any updates on Godby High School's reopening until Sunday, according to district spokesperson Chris Petley.

North Florida residents woke up Thursday morning to flooded roads and downed trees after overnight storms dumped almost 9 inches of rain in some locations.

Eastern Leon County saw roughly 10-12 inches of rain.

While other schools across Leon County opened an hour later, Godby was forced to keep its doors closed Thursday and Friday after administrators realized the majority of campus classrooms were flooded.

Petley said Servpro, a fire and water damage service, is currently at the school with dehumidifiers to remove moisture from classrooms. The team will assess air quality of the school on Saturday to determine if the school will reopen Monday.

"Most of the water has been cleared out which is a good thing," Petley said. "We just want to make sure the building is safe to occupy at this point. This is going to be an ongoing repair project."

In a video posted on the school district's Facebook page, Superintendent Rocky Hanna said 80% of the school's campus was flooded with several inches of water.

"We've never seen an incident like this," Hanna said. "We have had floods at Godby. It was a swamp, I guess, back in the day, but we will ensure something like this never happens again."

Parents should keep an eye on their emails and the LCS Facebook page for updates.

Alex Stemle, Godby assistant principal, said the school is accepting donations from the community to help replace what was lost.

"The community is rallying right now to meet the needs of our students," Stemle told the Tallahassee Democrat. "These are some of the most vulnerable kids in our community."

In a Facebook post on his personal account, Stemle said the school is in need of surge protectors for Chromebooks, white copy paper, tennis balls and small bookshelves.

Any donations or financial contributions to replace items that teachers lost can be made to Godby High School located at 1717 W Tharpe St.

Hanna has also pledged to devote a "pot of money" to replace items teachers lost in the flood.

More: Three classrooms at School of Arts and Sciences on Thomasville Road flooded

More: Tallahassee reports nearly a dozen sewage overflows after floodwaters overwhelm city

Alaijah Brown covers children & families for the Tallahassee Democrat. She can be reached at ABrown1@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Godby High School will reopen Monday after massive flooding