The Long Beach City School District and entire community was one of the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Sandy.  Currently, we are schooling our four elementary schools in two buildings, and we are schooling our middle school and high school children in the high school.  West Elementary School had water levels that rendered the entire first floor (twenty-plus classrooms, offices, gymnasium, music room, art room, computer lab, etc.) uninhabitable and a total loss.  We are not certain when we will be back in this space this school year.  The Blackheath Pre-Kindergarten center with seven classrooms, offices, etc. was completely submerged and is slated for demolition, as is our entire Administration Building.  Lido Elementary School and Long Beach Middle School are situated in the same complex, and they are both one-story buildings.  The water came in to levels of two to four feet, and it destroyed the gymnasium, most of the library books, and a lot more.  Most of the contents off all classrooms were discarded, and the buildings are still be remediated and restored.  East Elementary School lost several classrooms and its leveled lending library (multiple copies of leveled books for small-group instruction).  Lindell Elementary was the most fortunate, as the only space that suffered damage was the cafeteria and the boiler and furnace. 

 

What the above (brief) report of damage does not convey is the devastation and destruction of the material community at large.  Essentially, after insurance monies, FEMA, and New York State Education Department reimbursements, the Long Beach City School District expects that its costs to restore and rebuild classrooms to exceed $2,000,000.00. 

 

Please help:  http://www.lbeach.org/resources/long_beach_donations

 

Joshua Anisansel

Director of English

Currently Coordinating Sandy Donations

Long Beach City School District