Two Schools Closed, Nine With Roof Leaks Going Into First Day of School

Carroll County Public Schools will be opening on time tomorrow, welcoming students to all but two schools due to the damage left by Hurricane Irene. 

and Hampstead Elementary School were left in the dark and will not be opening Tuesday, although staff is still expected to report on time. 

"We have not received any assurances that these schools will be restored tomorrow so we're taking precautions," said Superintendent Stephen Guthrie. "We're hoping for them to be up and running Wednesday." 

was out of power until this morning; orientations were held as normal. 

"Linton Springs is right beside Century and that came back up, but they are powered by two different grids. It is not anything specific to the school as far as we know, it's a problem with power outages in the grid that Century stands in," said Guthrie.

After an assessment of the public schools, Guthrie said there was only minor damage to the buildings, with "damage you would expect from a storm of this magnitude." 

"We had roof leaks at nine of our schools with water infiltration into some of the classrooms. Our staff is addressing those and they will not affect the start of school Tuesday." 

While the schools are ready to go, Guthrie said he knows there are still going to be obstacles opening the school system following Hurricane Irene with more than 10,500 BGE customers without power as of 5:50 p.m. Monday. 

"I know that this is not going to be a normal day. We understand there are still thousands without power in Carroll County and that parents might be hesitant to send their children to school, but we have power, air conditioning and hot meals," said Guthrie.

"Send them to school rather than having them stay at home."