School’s Future Uncertain One Year After Flood
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FOREST ACRES, S.C. (WOLO) – We first brought you the story of a Forest Acres school that was still waiting to rebuild after October’s historic flooding six months ago. One year after the flood, Harmony School’s rebuild is at a standstill.
Director Debbie Holmes, who founded the not-for-profit school in 1988, said the total cost of rebuilding has risen to $150,000. That money is what the bank needs in order to give the school a $400,000 loan.
So far, through a GoFundMe campaign and a grant from the S.C. Department of Social Services, they’ve raised about $40,000.
“It saddens me because the parents have worked so hard, and we kept saying, oh, we’re gonna get in the building, we’re gonna get in the building, and then, we get to another roadblock again,” Holmes said.
The school‘s preschool and kindergarten building was destroyed in the floods, forcing 48 kids and three teachers into two portables.
“This is a community that’s been here a long time,” Holmes said. “We are one of a kind in Columbia.”
The school is hosting an oyster roast in November. For tickets, click here.
