While the rest of Austin ISD kicked off the new school year on Tuesday, students at Kealing Middle School won't have their back-to-school celebrations until next week after a fire broke out Monday night that closed the school.
Principal Timothy Estes announced Wednesday that the campus will open on Monday, Aug. 26.
"The majority of our classrooms will be back online and ready for students on Monday," Estes wrote in an email to families. "A few classrooms may take a little longer to restore, and we have a plan to temporarily relocate those classes."
Austin ISD has said it has both district and contracted crews "working around the clock" to clean up and repair fire damage.
The Austin Fire Department said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that when firefighters arrived on the scene at about 10:40 p.m. there was “smoke on the second floor with [an] electrical burning smell.” Investigators determined the fire was accidental and started by a power strip and wires coiled behind a microwave.
Austin ISD had hoped to reopen the school on Wednesday, but the campus may not be able to welcome back students until next week because of the extent of the damage. A portion of the school sustained fire, smoke and water damage.
“The restoration is developing hour-by-hour, including scrubbing the air, replacing all ceiling tiles and cleaning the HVAC system,” the district said.
Austin ISD officials said they explored whether another campus or space could accommodate Kealing’s 1,300 students, but there is not one available.
Still, the school is providing bagged lunches that students can pick up between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. According to district data on the school’s demographics, nearly 27% of students were considered economically disadvantaged during the last school year.
Parents and students disappointed by delay
Greg Buchanan has a son who attends Kealing and said he was disappointed that the school would not open on time.
“My first thoughts were how unfortunate it was for the teachers and the administration and all of the kids that go there,” he said.
Buchanan said he’s lucky he’s retired and takes his son to and from school because he knows it can be challenging for other families. He said he doesn’t blame the teachers or district administration, but they weren’t prepared for an incident like this.
“There should be contingencies for something like that. I’m not saying we should set aside billions of dollars for the unpredictable fire, but it’s just frustrating,” he said.
Buchanan also said because students are starting the school year late, they will be out of sync with the rest of the district.
“I don’t know how they’re going to catch up,” he said, “but they will.”
Estes said the school will not need to add more school days to its calendar. He said he hopes to get a waiver from the Texas Education Agency for the lost instructional time. But, depending on what TEA decides, the school day may need to be extended for a few minutes for the rest of the year to make up for the lost time.
Paloma, who is starting eighth grade, spent Wednesday hanging out with a group of her friends. She said she was disappointed school didn't start on time.
"Because I was already ready for school when I found out, and I feel like I was already in the school mindset, so I was a little sad when I couldn't go," she said.
Vanessa, also an eighth grader, said initially she was relieved school didn't start on time because she was stuck in New York on Tuesday.
"So when I got the text from my [friends], from the group chat, that school was cancelled I was like 'Yes! I'm not missing the first day of school,'" she said.
But the excitement wore off when she found out the delay to the new school year was lasting more than one day.
Austin ISD's aging infrastructure
According to Austin ISD, Kealing’s campus was built in 1986. That makes it slightly newer than the average school. The average age of an Austin ISD building is 47 years.
Marisa, who is going into eighth grade, said she wasn't that surprised by the fire at Kealing because its an older campus. She pointed out that last year the school's theater flooded.
"So all of our props got destroyed," she said. "And our walls are not the 'walliest' walls."
Austin ISD voters approved a historic $2.44 billion bond in 2022 to update its aging campuses. The bond included just over $4.5 million to update the school’s facilities. Those projects included electrical, plumbing as well as heating and air conditioning system improvements.
The Kealing campus dealt with fire damage in 2022 during the district's winter break. According to an email then-Principal Nathan Steenport sent families, there was a fire in the teachers' lounge that was caused by a malfunctioning refrigerator.
