A portion of the second-floor main hallway ceiling at Lake Drive School in Mountain Lakes caved in around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, prompting a full evacuation of the school that serves deaf and hard-of-hearing students. No injuries were reported, and the building remains temporarily closed while officials investigate what caused the collapse.
Mountain Lakes Superintendent Brad Siegel said a portion of the ceiling of the second-floor main hallway collapsed around 11:30 a.m., according to a report. Siegel added that all students and personnel were safely evacuated to the designated emergency relocation site, the same report notes. The incident was first reported by NJ.com.
Mountain Lakes Police, Boonton Police and the Morris County Sheriff's Office all responded to the scene, evacuating students and moving them to the evacuation site, per the same account. Mountain Lakes Police reported that no injuries resulted from the collapse. Once students and staff were clear, the scene was turned over to the Mountain Lakes Fire Department and the Mountain Lakes Construction Official for further investigation, the report states.
Cause Still Unknown as District Scrambles on Logistics
The cause of the partial collapse remains under investigation, the station's report notes, and officials have not said what triggered the failure. Meanwhile, the district is still finalizing a plan that would send Lake Drive students to other schools starting Wednesday, according to the same report.
Lake Drive School serves students who are deaf and hard-of-hearing from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, per the report. The school sits within a broader program that, according to the Lake Drive School history page, provides New Jersey's most comprehensive continuum of educational opportunities for deaf and hard-of-hearing children from ages 3 to 21.
A Program With Roots Going Back More Than Five Decades
Lake Drive was established in 1969 under the Mountain Lakes Board of Education, the school's history page states. By 1972, having outgrown its original facility, the program moved to its present location at Lake Drive School, according to the same source. Julie Lazeration is identified as the current Lake Drive principal on that history page.
