The Hartford Board of Education plans to take a close look at schools across the city after a ceiling collapse last week at the McDonough Expeditionary Learning School
The collapse sent a 7th grader and a 26-year-old intern to the hospital.
“I am so angry right now, I don’t know if I want to send my son to school,” said Elizabeth Velasquez.
Velasquez’s son Felix didn’t want to go back to McDonough.
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On Thursday, the thirteen year old was rushed to the hospital after the part of the ceiling fell on him in science class.
She also said it was bad enough that she plans to sue the district.
“He’s in pain…his back is still in pain,” Velasquez explained.
City leaders say that water damage may have be to blame and that it only took seconds for the heavy piece of sheet rock to crash down.
Parents like Velasquez said they need assurance that McDonough and other schools across the district were safe.
“I worry about kids over there…the same thing that happened to my son could happen to any kids,” Velasquez added.
After that scare, the Hartford Board of Education put a task force together that will look at the safety of every single school to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
“They’re going to start from the older schools, making those a priority then move to the newer construction,” said City Councilor Raul DeJesus Jr.
DeJesus says that the City Council would watch over the work, to ensure any possible dangers in the buildings were found and fixed.
“A school…it needs to be safe,” DeJesus added.
Velasquez claims her son’s school wasn’t safe that day.
“Something needs to change,” she said. Adding that she doesn’t want another student going through this.
City Councilors say the task force should have the results by the end of the summer.
If the schools needed to be fixed, construction could start in the next few months.
