Is there a giant sinkhole forming in the Bullitt East lunchroom?

Recently, there has been (yet again), problems with the back corner of the cafeteria.

During the first week of February, students and faculty alike have noticed caution tape lining a familiar section of the BE cafeteria. This is the beginning of reconciliation of a recurring problem involving pipes and erosion. Principal Willie Foster hopes everything will be done and over with by Spring Break, at the latest.

It’s all pretty hard to miss; as soon as you walk into the cafeteria, you notice it. Yellow caution tape, blocking off a good size section in between tables and booths. Jay Moert and Emily Fry, both freshman, said that they do not know what it is, nor has it worried them.

The lunch ladies have also found it hard to miss. Although, they aren’t 100% sure of what is wrong either. Lunch lady Lisa said, “I just think there’s a drain pipe messed up… it does flood sometimes when it rains a lot.” The biggest thing that affects her and the rest of the cafeteria staff is working around it to mop and sweep the floor.

Most everyone else probably fits into this category also, not too sure of what it all means. Some may even be worried that it is a sinkhole, or something else potentially dangerous. Principal Foster reassured us in having said, “It’s not a sinkhole, really the word would be erosion… we have found out, it’s safe, it’s stable, there’s no issue with weight-bearing; it’s just not very pretty.”

So, what is it?

Well, we all remember the last time there was a wall up in one giant corner of the cafeteria, and it has a lot to do with that. According to Principal Foster, this has been a problem for years and years, probably 15-20, but he said, “they’ve just never really been able to pin it down.” The biggest issue is that BE’s roof is flat, allowing water to collect in certain areas. To get rid of this water, there are obviously drains, and they go through the columns in the building, including the ones in the cafeteria. Foster said, “There has been a particular column that backs up and will cause flooding around it, and sometimes it’s a little, sometimes it’s a lot.”

The last time this happened, Foster thought it had been permanently reconciled and fixed, but when it rained A LOT during the week of Christmas, “it flooded pretty bad.” The next step was to go back in, and figure out once and for all what the problem was. This was done using blue sonogram tape, clearly visible in the cafeteria. The tape identified that there was one more pipe that needed to be fixed, but all the previous flooding had caused even more of a problem. Gravel underneath of the tile and concrete had been eroded away over the years.

Now that Foster knows the things that need to be done, fixing it shouldn’t be too difficult. The concrete in that section will be sawed out and removed, the pipe will be fixed, the gravel will be replaced, and replacement concrete and tile will be added on top.

As far as when it will be worked on and fixed, Foster said, “I don’t mind if they built the wall back and started working on it now. My concern is I don’t want it to disrupt school during the day, I want people to be safe; I don’t want it to be nasty and ugly and dirty.” When it happened the first time, workers came in at night, and cleaned up before school the next day. Foster continued, “Whatever they do now will be no more disruptive than it was the last time.” He is hoping everything will be back to normal before everyone comes back to school after Spring Break.

Principal Foster said, “Hopefully our current students who move on to be engineers will be smart enough to not build schools with flat roofs.”