Photo by Alan Olson The Marshall County Board of Education hears reports of ongoing repairs and renovations at Cameron Elementary School.

MOUNDSVILLE — Cameron Elementary students will arrive back to class with the halls already alive and active, with repairs having been ongoing since early July to fix damage from floodwaters.

The city of Cameron was struck with heavy water damage as the result of flooding early in July, prompting custodians to work alongside professional cleaners to get the elementary school back in shape for the fall semester. At Tuesday evening’s meeting of the Marshall County Board of Education, Facilities Director Mike Price said maintenance crews will be working through this and next week to get floor coverings installed all across the first floor, focusing on the classrooms and cafeteria areas in particular.

“They’re installing the last of the classrooms on the first floor right now, so we’ll be able to start putting furnishings back at the end of this week,” Price said. “We’re looking pretty good, as far as the classrooms and the core of the first floor. … The other challenge is getting the cafeteria and kitchen put together. At this point, we’re looking pretty good, and will not have any delays to the start of school.”

School personnel, Panhandle Cleaning and Restoration, and Carpets by Jamison are handling the flooring parts of repairs. Additional help was also provided from the city of Cameron.

Price said that the entryways and corridors of the elementary school will likely remain as bare concrete until winter break, when they can be fully repaired without disrupting classes.

The pre-school casework — cubbies, shelves, and other made-to-order wooden fixtures — are slated to be installed next week. Some first and second grade casework, though, would not be completed by the start of the semester.

Price later told the board that the kitchen area of the school did suffer substantial damage, but that appliances that could not be replaced or repaired in time could be worked around.

“If I’m sweating anything, it’s just getting the kitchen equipment back in place. We took advantage of that being out to upgrade some of its infrastructure. The kitchen had some of its original fixtures that are feeding our appliances, so we upgraded those while we had the chance.

“… A lot of the equipment is equipment we’ve had for years. So when you pull it out and hook it back up, who knows what might fail on me?” he told the board. “So we did buy a new dishwasher, because that was really shot, and now that’s back-ordered by six weeks. It’s out of our control, but we can use throwaway utensils.”

In other board matters, Superintendent Shelby Haines reiterated a previous announcement that the school district was following state guidance in regards to COVID-19 procedures, which did not call for a mask mandate in county buildings at this time. Haines added that, as always, the school board was following the guidelines presented by the state, and that they would continue to flesh out the details of their procedures as time went on. The board will announce the full scope of the semester’s COVID-19 protocols on Monday.