Elementary school in Illinois closed indefinitely

KSDK-- Students at Community Unit School District #7 Gillespie in Illinois will not have class on Monday. Its elementary school building has been damaged, possibly by mine subsidence.

Benld Elementary is almost an hour drive northeast of St. Louis. It's located in Macoupin county known for a number of abandoned underground mines.

The damage to Benld Elementary school happened between Friday night and Saturday afternoon. The superintendent doesn't know where the mine is located but he suspects the shift in the foundation was caused by mine subsidence.

Because of safety, we weren't allowed inside, but Superintendent Paul Skeans said the damage looks like an earthquake had hit the building.

The $7.5 million school is 7 years old. Skeans said core drillings were done prior to building the school. Skeans said, "There were samples taken throughout. There were reports made. With every report, there's always a disclaimer, but no matter what at this point in time, it's one of those things that happened. I'd say anywhere in central Illinois you would run into this situation."

It's possible the building will be closed for the rest of the school year. Parent Charles Harrison said, "I'm just glad my kids weren't there. There's a lot of mines around here. A lot of mines. For years and years. You see it in a lot of houses around here. It's really concerning. My aunt had to move our of her house because of the mine in Gillespie."

The 700 elementary school students may be placed in the middle and high school. The superintendent says they are discussing whether to do a double shift, where the secondary students go in earlier and leave earlier, then the elementary students go in later and leave later.