Senator Dan Laughlin issued the following statement in the wake of the devastating Friday (May 26) morning fire at Central Career & Technical School that forced the Erie School District to cancel classes for Central Tech High School and Roosevelt Middle School students for the remainder of the school year. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
“The fire this morning at the newly named Erie High School is a huge setback for the Erie School District. The most important thing is that no one was in the building. There were no injuries, for which we must be grateful. Structures can be rebuilt.
“My heart goes out to the students who are invested in their school. The Central student body, along with their future classmates from East and Strong Vincent, have already been through so much. This is a heart-wrenching way for them to end the school year.
“It is hard to find appropriate words to describe the emotions I felt this morning when I was at the school seeing the damage first-hand. I spoke with some of the teachers and firefighters about the situation and we all share a sense of shock and loss.
“After the initial, emotional reaction, it will be imperative for us to continue to work together as a community to overcome this adversity. This is a horrible setback, but we cannot and will not allow it to impact our expectations for our young people. The damages will be assessed, a plan will be adopted, and we will forge ahead as a united community.
“It is no secret that the Erie School District has been and continues to be one of my top priorities. I pledge to continue working with District administrators to ensure that our students receive the quality education they deserve.
“In closing, I want to say this to the students and their families: You are much too important to the future of our community to let something like this get us down. We will do whatever we have to do to get through this. And, we will continue our hard work to produce an ‘ERIE HIGH SCHOOL’ of which you can be proud!”
Contact: Matt Azeles mazeles@pasen.gov