UPDATE: Emmaus High School will be closed Nov. 8 and 9. The restoration process will continue throughout the weekend. Please note the following cancellations: World Languages Honor Society Induction Ceremony scheduled for Nov. 8 has been canceled. Students will receive their certificates in class upon return. Broadway Night scheduled for Nov. 9 has been canceled. Picture retake day has been rescheduled for Nov. 19 and Saturday’s Kid Science Camp has been rescheduled for Dec. 1. Pending acceptable air quality results, the district anticipates classes will resume Nov. 12. Teachers are suggesting students check Google Classroom for any classroom communications.

Due to extreme weather and flash flooding Nov. 2, the storm drains on Macungie Avenue became clogged with leaves and debris causing Category 3 stormwater to flood the lower level of Emmaus High School. The first and second floors were unaffected.

The main office, auxiliary gym, wrestling room, 40 classrooms, and adjacent areas were impacted by stormwater.

Custodial staff were on site during the event and responded immediately. Overnight, district officials secured the services of RestoreCore, a third-party disaster restoration contractor. RestoreCore was on site within hours to begin remediation work. By 1 p.m. Nov. 3, all standing water was removed from hallways, classrooms and impacted areas.

RestoreCore’s restoration team is extracting carpeting, drywall, and structural materials with porous surfaces. As part of their dehumidification process, RestoreCore has placed over 400 utility fans, industrial dehumidifiers, and drying systems throughout the lower level of the high school building.

Part of the remediation process is addressing student property that was located in lockers in the impacted locations of the building. RestoreCore will be tagging and dry cleaning any wet clothing and shoes. District property, such as wet textbooks, will be discarded and replaced. The process to return locker contents will be addressed in a future call out from Emmaus High School administration to students impacted.

The expectation is that the impacted areas will be fully remediated and certified for occupancy as soon as possible.

The district has secured the services of Hillmann Consulting to advise, direct and certify the ongoing remediation process.

EHS was closed for students Nov. 5 and will be closed through Nov. 7 for all high school students.

The district will be requesting an attendance waiver from the Pennsylvania Department of Education for November 5, 6 and 7 in light of the school emergency closings.

The district’s priority is returning students to a clean and safe learning environment as soon as possible.

More updates will be provided as they become available.

Special thanks to faculty and staff who worked through the night and/or came in to assist in clean up efforts.

The East Penn School District would also like to thank the community for their generous food donations for our team.