Roof troubles back at Deer Meadow

An old, familiar problem has reared its ugly head at Deer Meadow Primary School.

Heavy rains last week caused at least five different leaks at the Greencastle school, with Superintendent Lori Richmond describing three as "substantial."

Alarmingly, the three largest leaks occurred at the same spots as leaks officials believed were fixed by extensive work performed last year.

Leaks at the expansion joints and valleys of the roof of the 11-year-old occupied the Greencastle School Board's attention for much of 2011. The problems were not simply in getting the roof fixed, but in the passing of blame between the building's architects, the roof contractors, the roof deck manufacturer and the shingle manufacturer.

Work was completed on the roof in the fall and the structure showed no signs of problems during winter rains. The corporation recently received a settlement check from the shingle manufacturer.

Then staff and students returned to what has unfortunately been the norm for much of the school's life -- puddles in the classroom.

The maintenance department has responded to the problem, but work on a resolution cannot really begin until the outside contractors who have done previous work address the problem. So far, there has been limited response from these parties.

School attorney Bob Rund said he believes there is a two-year warranty on the work completed in the fall.

With no further response, though, all school officials have to do is wait and pray for no rain.