HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -Elementary school students who attend Highlands Elementary School will attend school at the old Cavalry Hills building (2800 Poplar Avenue) when school starts on Wednesday, August 4.

Highlands Elementary is in the process of getting a new roof and the project isn’t going to be done before the start of school.

“The impact is very great in this area, because we are basically trying to open a new school in four days,” says Huntsville City Schools Board of Education representative Carlos Mathews.

The move impacts more than 400 elementary students. Huntsville City School officials say the construction delay is out of their control.

“We’ve got several issues that play into that. We’ve got the weather issues that we’ve had with rain that did not allow them to work. We’ve had material issues, with actually getting it here and being able to do the work,” says Matthews.

At this time there is no set date for when students will return to Highlands. All day-to-day teaching and learning, as well as school operations, are being relocated to the Cavalry Hills Campus on Poplar Avenue until further notice.

“All the materials, the books the desks, everything that is here at this school to make academics work will be moved to that new location through the weekend and be prepared for Wednesday,” says Matthews.

School board member Carlos Mathews says the way Highlands Elementary’s roof is constructed, it wouldn’t be possible for students to be there while work is completed.

“The actual ceiling of the classroom is the roof so as they work on that building and drop things and put things in, the dust particles fall down from the ceiling and we do not want students and teachers in that building inhaling that or even getting it on their skin,” says Matthews.

Matthews says they are doing their best to make sure students have a good academic and safe environment.

“We will work on finding out where the ball may have been missed, we will do an after-action report to try to figure those things out but the number one priority right now is the safety of our teachers and students and making sure the academic process continues on time,” says Mathews.

HCS hosted a parent meeting at the AAA Theater on Friday to discuss the transition. You can watch that meeting here