Rains taking toll on Madison Co. school roofs

“We went a couple of years without hardly any rain,” superintendent Mitch McGhee told the Madison County Board of Education (BOE) recently. “Now, every week, we’re getting inches of rain, and it’s taking its toll on our roofs.”

Roofs at Ila Elementary and Madison County High School present the biggest problem areas, and the school system doesn’t have the funds to replace roofs at those two spots, McGhee said.

“But we have been working diligently to figure out what we can do to reduce leaks,” McGhee said.

Some schools dealt with more than 10 leaks at a time during fall rains, but that has been significantly reduced, assistant superintendent Bonnie Knight said.

Now, schools experiencing leaks are only seeing about 1-2 after a heavy rain. In some instances, leaks have turned out to be insulation leaks, not roof problems.

The Madison County School System is bidding-out a roof repair project for Ila Elementary School.

“So we hope to get some great competitive bids on that project,” Knight said.

The BOE could select a roofer at its January meeting.

Part of the problem is locating the leaks at these school sites. Knight noted that MCHS “is the most difficult school to even find the leaks.”

But the school system is working with a company that’s determined a better method for uncovering leaks and also patches the area with a different material, Knight said.

“We’re working on leaks continuously,” Knight said, “and have been since the rainy season started.”