Berry Middle to reopen Thursday following repairs

Hoover City Schools closed Berry Middle School on Jan. 15 after authorities reported localized damage to the school's heating and cooling system.

HCS announced the school has been repaired and cleaned by a professional crew and will reopen Thursday, Jan 16. 

In addition, HCS thanked the Hoover Fire Department and other agencies that assisted.

A joint statement from Hoover City Schools and the Hoover Fire Department issued on Wednesday explained further details of the closure. Below is the statement in full.

Berry Middle School was closed today after an overnight water incident dumped a significant amount of water in a portion of the school. Some of the first employees to arrive at the school this morning initially noticed the issue and notified school authorities. Hoover Fire Department officials were called to the scene and immediately began investigating. No students were ever in danger, as the incident was discovered before the school day began. Students were diverted to Spain Park High School as they arrived at school by bus and by car.

Early assessments included an odor, in addition to the water. For those reasons, we evacuated all staff and faculty from that portion of the school. It was later determined that a part associated with a water holding tank failed, which caused the water to dump. Outside, professional cleanup crews have arrived at the scene to begin the clean up process.

The school will remain all closed all day Wednesday. We will make a determination later today as to whether closure will be necessitated for Thursday.

– Submitted by Rusty Lowe, Executive Officer, Hoover Fire Department, and Jason Gaston, Hoover City Schools.