BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Students at William Penn Elementary School will be out of school a second day after a wall collapse on an exterior stairwell forced the Bethlehem Area School District to cancel classes there Monday.
Superintendent Joe Roy said police and fire responded to the scene early Monday before students were to arrive at 8:55 a.m. There were no injuries.
- Bethlehem Area School District said one of its elementary schools will be closed Monday and Tuesday due to a wall collapse
- The collapse took place on an exterior stairwell at William Penn Elementary
- The building was built in 1972 and is one of the smallest in the district
. @WilliamPennES school will be closed on Tuesday, April 25, 2023 while structural engineers and the City of Bethlehem Building Inspectors assess the outside stairway.
— BASD (@BethlehemAreaSD) April 24, 2023
In particular, we need to make sure emergency exit options are code compliant prior to reopening. @BASDSUPT pic.twitter.com/yjC6wdwXjY
The school closed Monday so city structural engineers could assess the safety of the stairwell that sits on Main Street on the outskirts of the city’s downtown. Roy said they will also be assessing the structures at Thomas Jefferson, which have the same open-concept format and were built at the same time.
The stairway leads to three classrooms on the second floor, but the collapse could also affect entry and exit for classrooms on the first floor. The city has to determine if the stairway could be made safe for entry or just be used in an emergency. Roy said the school has several ways for students and staff to exit the building other than the affected stairway.
Roy said Moravian University has offered classroom space for students if it's needed.
The building was constructed in 1972 and is one of the smallest of the 16 elementary schools in the district. In January, it was named as one of three elementary schools the district planned to tear down. The others, Thomas Jefferson and Fountain Hill, have deteriorated so much that renovating them doesn’t make financial sense, BASD Superintendent Joe Roy said at the time.
The district held a community discussion about the potential impact of demolishing the schools and viewed it as a first step in the planning stages of possible demolition.
“This is just kind of the beginning of letting people know, ‘Hey, we’re thinking about this, what’s on your mind? What do you want us to keep in mind as we develop options?’” Roy said at the time.
Reporter Sarah Mueller contributed to this report.
