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Flagstaff Elementary School Resumes In-Person Class After Flood Damage

The Killip Elementary School in Flagstaff resumed in-person instruction Tuesday after floodwaters inundated the facility in mid-August. 

The public school — part of the Flagstaff Unified School District — cancelled classes for two days after rainfall poured onto the Museum Fire Burn Scar on Aug. 17. Coconino County officials say 3.07 inches fell on one part of the burn scar within an hour.

As residents and volunteers cleared debris, Killip sustained significant flooding. Photos posted on the school’s Facebook page last month displayed muddy, water-logged hallways. 

“That was a scary, a tragic day,” said FUSD Superintendent Michael Penca later said during a public forum. 

Due to the damage, students reverted to remote learning until Tuesday, Sept. 7, when instruction shifted to a new temporary location within the former Flagstaff Middle School. 

The school is also slated to move into a new building on 6th Avenue in August, 2022, Principal Joe Gutierrez said at a meeting last month.

After an inactive monsoon season in 2020, higher-than-average rain activity impacted Flagstaff this year. 

 

The National Weather Service reports the city received 10.35 inches of rain so far during the 2021 monsoon season. A normal precipitation season, according to the NWS, averages 6.09 inches. 

 

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