SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. – Roughly 180 students at East Valley High School are in different classrooms today after water from a rainstorm leaked through the school’s roof, damaging six rooms.
Water flowed down from the ceiling in multiple spots during Wednesday’s storm, according to the school’s principal, Ryan Arnold. By Thursday afternoon, all ceiling tiles in the affected rooms had been removed, and machines were working to drain the remaining water. Six classrooms were unusable.
Arnold said his staff worked late into the night to make sure every student had a place to learn Thursday.
“Thankfully we do have empty classroom spaces, so we were able to make some adjustments,” Arnold said. “I spent the evening coordinating what that would look like, communicating with families, staff and students. This morning I sent out their new schedules.”
Arnold said the school is already bringing in companies to survey the damage and determine what repairs are needed.
“We’re trying to just determine what are the next steps. We’re partnering with ESD 101, they’re going to be coming out to do air and asbestos testing. After that’s done, ServPro can come in and start tearing out carpet.”
Arnold said the work could take a while, and students may not return to the affected rooms for some time.
“If I was super hopeful, I’d say next week, but it’s probably not going to be that way,” Arnold said. “I think a more realistic timeline would be right after winter break.”
Arnold also said the district’s custodial and maintenance staff do their best with what they have.
“Our custodial and our maintenance staff, they do their best with what they have. With our buildings to be the way they are right now, we can only do so much until things fail. And when they fail, they fail on a large scale.”
The timing comes as the East Valley School District has a capital levy on the November ballot. The levy would generate $6.7 million, and part of that money would go toward roof repairs and replacements. If voters approve it, the levy would replace the current capital levy, which expires at the end of this year.
COPYRIGHT 2026 BY KXLY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.
