Flooding closes west Charlotte school ahead of school new year

CHARLOTTE — Students and staff at the Charles H. Parker Academic Center in west Charlotte will have to temporarily move to a different school after a pipe broke, flooding the building, a spokesperson for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools said.

Repairs are expected to take eight weeks with the first day of classes on Aug. 26.

In the meantime, students will move to Bruns Avenue Elementary School. The two schools will keep their own bell and lunch schedules. Transportation routes will not change.

Bruns is opening a brand new building this year and CMS said there is plenty of space.

Parent Bree Jones has a first- and second-grader at Charles Parker and didn’t know about the pipe burst, causing severe damage.

“I wasn’t aware of it,” she said. “Honestly, I thought it was going to be a normal first day of school at Charles Parker. Yeah, I was planning on taking them right down the street.”

Jones said told Channel 9′s Jonathan Lowe that she didn’t know the school was temporarily combining with Bruns Avenue Elementary.

“I just learned about it today from you,” Jones said.

The following message was sent to Charles H. Parker families:

“Hello Charles H. Parker Academic Center community; this is your principal, Stephanie Range, with an important message regarding some changes for at least the first eight weeks of the 2024-25 school year. Last week, the Charles H. Parker Academic Center facility sustained severe flooding and water damage, resulting in extensive repairs. All of this damage has displaced students and staff from our school building.

“When students return to school on August 26, 2024, for the 2024-25 school year, we will be temporarily relocating to Bruns Avenue Elementary School, 501 South Bruns Avenue, a brand new school facility. We are grateful that the Bruns Avenue Elementary School family has welcomed us to share their building space for at least eight weeks until the repairs are complete in the Charles H. Parker Academic Center facility.

“Each school will keep our individual school schedules, classes, transportation and lunch schedules. We are fortunate that the new Bruns Elementary School facility is large enough and well-equipped to accommodate both school communities comfortably.

“Status updates on this temporary shared-facility arrangement with Bruns Elementary School will be provided on a regular basis.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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