BY MIKE CETERA
Why doesn't insurance pay? That's the first thing that came to mind when I read the coverage regarding East Aurora High School's damaged gym floor.
It could cost roughly $500,000 to replace the floor, which was damaged by rain water that seeped in sometime in June or July. The water damaged beyond repair more than three-quarters of the floor.
But here's the kicker, according to Staff Writer Justina Wang's report:
The money to pay for the floor will likely come out of the funds left over from the district's last construction project, which was slated to cost $44 million but came in about $2 million under budget.
Why does the district have to pay for this out of pocket? Insurance wasn't addressed in the story, so I called the district.
District spokesman Clayton Muhammad told me East has a catastrophic flood insurance policy, but because the policy insures the value of the entire building in case of flood, the deductible is greater than the cost of replacing the gym floor.
This is another bad break for a district that doesn't need any more challenges.
Still, a big question remains: How did this happen? The gym "has never flooded over the last half-century.," according to Wang's story. "They gym didn't flood during the heavy storms last month, when families all over the Fox Valley pumped water out of their basements." If someone -- other than Mother Nature -- is at fault, he/she/they/it must be held accountable.
I think (athletic director & assistant principal) Rick Johnson is at least partially to blame. He is responsible for overseeing the maintenance of the buildings & grounds, and is paid (some would say overpaid) quite handsomely for that. He "dropped the ball" here--maybe he should pay part of the repair bill.
I was at a neighborhood meeting and someone said that the pipes were too clogged due to lack of annual maintenance that the water actually flooded the floor instead of properly draining. Another bad call for D131.
"Lack of annual maintenance"--hmm, whose responsibility would that be? The athletic director? Assistant principal? Person in charge of overseeing building & grounds concern at the high school? Let's see--all those positions are held by none other than Rick Johnson. Seems to me he's got some "'splainin" to do!