A crowd of more than 200 parents and community members showed up early at the Clendenin Volunteer Fire Department and sat waiting. Wednesday night's humidity made the wait uncomfortable, even with the large garage doors raised to let in a breeze.
But it wasn't the heat that was on everyone's mind.
A week after learning the damage to Clendenin Elementary School from the late June flood equals about 97 percent of its $3.7 million appraised value, and just days before the start of the school year, their fears were confirmed. Their children will never set foot back in the building, considered by many to be the center of the community for more than three-quarters of a century.
Ron Duerring, Kanawha County schools superintendent, told parents during a special meeting of the county's Board of Education that the school would be permanently closed and students would go to Bridge Elementary School until a new school can be built.
"It's not going to be the same thing we knew. It's not going to be the same Clendenin Elementary," Duerring said. "It's not going to be the same, and it's never going to be the same in the town of Clendenin with people trying to rebuild their homes, rebuild the entire community."
Any time a building is more than 50 percent damaged in such a situation, it has to be brought into compliance with national flood insurance policy. Though the estimate calculates about $3.6 million worth of damages, that's just the amount required to repair the building to how it was before the flood, not bring it up to current building codes.
"We didn't reach the decision [to close Clendenin Elementary]," Duerring said. "They came in, did an assessment and deemed it almost 100 percent damaged. We didn't make the decision, they did."
A new school will be built, the location of which has yet to be discussed. It will take years to build a new school, Duerring said.
At Bridge Elementary, students from both schools will double up in existing classrooms there until portable classrooms can be brought to the school about 30 to 40 days after the school year starts. This means that, for a while at least, the normal class size of 18 to 25 will jump to as high as 40.
Several residents were not happy with the decision to bus students from Clendenin Elementary to Bridge Elementary, which is about nine miles down the road. One man suggested that, once the portable classrooms are brought in, they be set up somewhere in Clendenin to be closer to the town.
While the county goes through the long process to build a new school - acquire new land, hire an architect and finance the project - the portable classrooms will remain in place.
Jane Roberts, the school system's assistant superintendent over elementary schools, said she was impressed with how eager teachers at both schools are to make the situation work. She said teachers already have begun working with each other on plans for how to co-teach their classrooms.
After the announcement, parents were allowed to ask the board questions so the entire audience could hear the answer. Two parents worried about the safety of Bridge Elementary, the air quality and presence of mold in particular, for children who have asthma or other troubles related to breathing.
Terry Hollandsworth, the county's school maintenance director, said Bridge Elementary would be continually tested through the school year, but no students will be allowed to enter the school if the air quality doesn't meet the state Department of Education's standards. So far, he said, it has.
County officials also reiterated what they said on Tuesday about busing kids to and from the school.
They reminded parents to stay alert when dropping off their children at Bridge Elementary since there will be more cars, more buses and more children all trying to enter the school.
Reach Jake Jarvis at jake.jarvis@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-7939 or follow @NewsroomJake on Twitter.