UPDATED: King Elementary Will Open Monday

UPDATED 8:38 a.m.

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King Elementary’s cafeteria will be in operations on Monday.

“I have received word that we are all set in the cafe for Monday. No issues cited and the cafe will be up and running with no adjustments needed,” said Principal Kim Taylor on Saturday morning.

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King Elementary School will open on Monday.

Results of an air quality test on Thursday gave the okay on Friday.

It is unknown if the kitchen in the school will be operational. Assistant Superintendent of Schools Frank Tiano has not responded to an email or phone call from Framingham Patch.

Wet and damaged ceiling tiles have been replaced. and several education rooms and offices have been cleaned up.

A thin tube radiation heat pipe froze and then burst in room 112 at the school, flooding the area formerly occupied by the Parent Information Center as well as the lobby, explained Framingham Public Schools Director of Buildings & Grounds Matt Torti earlier this week.

The water then flowed down the walls and into the ceiling tiles and eventually into the kitchen area below.

The good news is that kitchen area has floor drains, so the water did not stagnate, said Torti on Thursday.

On Tuesday, Torti was worried if the kitchen area would pass a Board of Health inspection, but said if that was the only issue the school could still open and food could be brought in from other buildings.

Damaged during the flooding after the pipe burst was the teachers’ room, the music room, the special education offices and the room of ESL teacher Tracy Colby.

Colby lost 95 perecent of her materials, said King Principal Kim Taylor.

The King Elementary PTO is rallying around her and have “organized a direct donation campaign through PayPal to assist with the replacement of Ms. Colby’s instructional supplies, which included books, teaching games, posters, and bulletin board sets, said Taylor.

The public can donate money via PayPal usingptokingelementary@gmail.com as the recipient. It’s important to select “friends or family” as the payment type, so no fees are assessed.

“This is just another example of the teamwork that our school community can show. I am proud to lead a community that steps up to make our school even stronger, especially in times of need,” said Taylor to Patch.

Colby has been re-located to another part of the school for Monday’s opening.

Four schools -- King Elementary, McCarthy Elementary, Walsh Middle and Framingham High School were damaged over school vacation week when four pipes burst at the four schools.

McCarthy suffered the most damage and a 9-classroom wing flooded and damaged will not open on Monday and kindergarten and first grade students will be transferred to Fuller Middle School for the rest of the school year.

Custodians and school staff discovered the damage at the four schools on Tuesday morning, after a long holiday weekend. Clean-up took place all week as it is school vacation week, and there are no classes.