OAKLAND PARK, Fla. – Two years after a roof collapse caused students and teachers to scramble for safety, a middle school in Broward County is getting major upgrades.
The groundbreaking was held on Friday for what will be a new and improved James S. Rickards Middle School.
The upgrades to the new three-story building, when finished, will include a gym, media center and science labs.
Anna Fusco, of the Broward Teachers Union, said the new upgrades will give the school a completely different look than the last time Local 10 News visited in 2021.
“Collapsed walls—people had to climb out through the roof to get out,” she said.
About 200 children were on the campus of the school that day when the roof completely collapsed on the media center, which had been under construction as part of a $10 million project.
“We heard the first thump and then it just collapsed,” said Tirza Clarke, a guidance counselor at Rickards Middle School.
Clarke said she was on campus the day of the collapse and told Local 10 News that she was glad to see the start of the rebuild.
“I am beyond excited and proud, and hopefully the kids will learn the lesson, ‘Hey, you fight for what you want, and you get it,’” she said.
Clarke says students are mostly learning in portables, but school leaders are constructing a plan to get them back into a building.
“The first plan was to separate them to three different schools for the next three years,” said Fusco, but that did not happen, she added.
So Friday became a day of celebration for a community filled with history and tradition.
“It did take a long time — that part was disappointing. I’m glad that now it’s starting, and we can move forward,” said Sarah Leonardi, School Board of Broward County member.
Broward Superintendent Peter Licata says the current situation is not acceptable for kids or teachers.
“These children should walk through a building that looks like every other building in the district-- and they will get that!” he said.
Although the project was not funded by the Smart Bond program, Broward Schools has long been criticized for its lackluster handling of the multimillion-dollar bond and construction projects financed by Broward voters.
“There was a lot of contract problems, there was a lot of bid problems,” said Licata. “We’re going to get rid of all those and we’re going to streamline it.”
The project is estimated to cost the district about $82 million and is expected to be completed in about 15 months.