Classes resumed on Thursday, Nov 20, at Sparrows Point high and middle schools in Baltimore County, Md., just one day after an SUV crashed into the cafeteria and caused structural damage, the Baltimore Sun and WBAL-TV (NBC affiliate) report.
At about 9:30 PM Tuesday, Nov 18, an SUV driven by Jonathan Heil, 33, rear-ended a Kia on North Point Road, where the school is located, and then veered off the road and traveled a short distance before crashing into the building’s cafeteria. The cafeteria serves students in both Sparrows Point High School and Sparrows Point Middle School.
Mr Heil was airlifted to Shock Trauma, treated, and released after the accident, and police were expected to continue their investigation into the cause of the crash. The driver of the Kia wasn’t seriously injured, according to news reports.
School officials canceled school Wednesday so they could assess the damage and “reconfigure” the cafeteria. After some quick work by the facilities team, which included putting up some plywood where the windows used to be, the building was deemed safe. School officials said they were relieved the accident happened at night, when very few people would have been in the building.
“Had this happened during the day, certainly there could have been a different outcome. We’re just thankful that it didn’t happen during the day,” WBAL-TV quoted schools spokesman Mychael Dickerson as saying.
Who should pay for accidental damage to public school buildings, and what should be done if funding is unavailable to that party? See Common Core writing standard WHST.9-10.1.A for more information.
