news-record.com

Moving Oak Ridge Elementary students to nearby Oak Ridge Military Academy could be a win-win situation all around.

Following a recommendation Thursday by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, Guilford County Schools officials will relocate second through fifth grades to the campus of the 160-year-old private military school, if details can be worked out.

NIOSH investigators say Oak Ridge Elementary should remain closed until work is completed on the heating and air conditioning system. Since 2005, students, parents and faculty have blamed a variety of illnesses on what they describe as a sick building.

With fall classes looming, parents and school officials have been working on contingencies. One called for splitting students by grade and sending them to other schools. However, that would have been too costly and disruptive. Keeping them together, close to home, is a far better choice.

For Oak Ridge Military, beset by financial problems, such an arrangement buys time. In a down economy, the private school faces an uncertain future but still plans to open again this fall, although details are sketchy.

There's precedence for temporarily relocating. After fire destroyed Eastern Guilford High, students attended classes at GTCC's East Wendover facility and the former N.C. School for the Deaf. Despite inconvenience, students adjusted to their new surroundings.

In this instance, there's time to smooth rough spots. Sharing space could open new horizons for students from diverse backgrounds.

But this last-minute fix shouldn't divert attention from the serious problems facing both schools.

For Oak Ridge Elementary, a solution must be found to the disruptive lingering health issues, no matter how long it takes. Something is making students and their teachers sick.

And Oak Ridge Military must meet the challenge of finding a survival plan in a changing educational market.

With classes only weeks away, parents must be fully informed of what's ahead. Hopefully, family disruptions can be held to a minimum.