School Board sues over leaking roof at Haughton school

[Guest guest]

School Board sues over leaking roof at Haughton school

Created: January 7, 2009 07:24 PM

Modified: January 7, 2009 07:26 PM

KTBS - Shreveport,LA,USA

http://www.ktbs.com/news/School-Board-sues-over-leaking-roof-at-

Haughton-school-23010/#

Click here to play video

A leaky roof at Haughton Middle School in Bossier Parish has been a

problem for nearly 10 years -- and now the Bossier School Board has

decided to sue the people who built the school. The suit seeking

damages was filed today in Bossier District Court.

The decision came during a contentious board meeting Tuesday night

where a resident wanted to know why it took so long to go after the

company that built the school -- and three weeks after a federal

indictment charging corruption in the school system's maintenance

department.

From the time it opened 10 years ago, the Haughton school's roof

leaked -- creating an environment for mold. School system officials

tried to no avail to stop the leaking, then spent $1 million on mold

remediation and repairs last spring. Last month, they concluded the

school needed a new roof, which will cost an estimated $1.5 million.

The suit seeks damages from the contractor and architect.

Mike Tucker, who lives in south Bossier, said the school system

should have filed suit earlier.

" If they would have acted promptly they would have probably already

won a judgment and been able to pay for repairs out of that

judgment, " Tucker said. " Instead, they had to use their own money

how many years later. The administration and board have done great

things. As intelligent people as they are, it seems they could have

rectified this situation long ago. "

Board members have referred comment to schools Superintendent Ken

Kruithof. Kruithof said today that an attorney for the school system

until now never advised them to sue the contractor.

Three employees of the Bossier school system, along with the owners

of Bossier City business Air Repair, are under indictment on charges

they defrauded taxpayers of more than three-quarters of a million

dollars through a series of kickbacks, bid riggings and inflated

charges for installation and maintenance of air conditioners at

schools around the parish. The process of doling out millions of

dollars in work was rigged so that Air Repair bought off corrupt

school employees in order to get much of the work and then fleeced

the school system, prosecutors said.