ROUND ROCK, Texas — Walsh Middle School experienced mass flooding over the weekend that impacted a third of the classrooms throughout the campus.
Over the weekend, unidentified people broke into the school and vandalized the interior of the building. Included in the "extensive" damage was the breaking of the wash stations in the science labs, which led to flooding that moved throughout campus and impacted a third of the school's classrooms, Principal Rudy Reyes said in an email.
Due to the damage, the school was closed for classes Monday and all office staff was not on campus. The Round Rock ISD Maintenance Department, alongside a professional company, was beginning the "recovery process" while no one is on campus Monday.
Reyes said the campus will safely reopen on Tuesday, including normal bus and bell schedules. Students will notice some cosmetic changes in the hallway as repairs are ongoing.
"It took the efforts of many to get us ready to reopen. I would like to give a sincere thank you to our Round Rock ISD Maintenance Department and Cotton, our contracted company, for their hard work to ensure our campus is safe, clean and ready to welcome staff and students," Reyes said. "It takes a village to educate students and to come back from a difficult event like this. We continue to ask our entire community for grace and support during this time."
The district planned to hold STAAR testing on Tuesday, but that has now been rescheduled for Wednesday, April 19.
"There's 1,000 kids that go to this school," Walsh parent Mike Merwick said. "Shame on them for impacting 1,000 kids and their education. There's supposed to be STAAR testing on Tuesday. I just think it's disgusting that they did it. I can't possibly imagine what would cause somebody to do that or why somebody thought this was a good idea. I understand having fun as a kid, we all had fun when we were kids; seems more hateful than it does like fun to me."
School officials are collaborating with the Round Rock ISD and Round Rock police departments to identify the people who broke into the campus and vandalized it.
"As a reminder, destroying or stealing campus property is a violation of the District's student code of conduct. Any student caught destroying or stealing campus property will face disciplinary action, and depending on the circumstances, may face legal consequences," Reyes said.
Anyone who has information regarding the incident is encouraged to submit an anonymous report or contact campus administration.