CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — As KRIS 6 News previously reported, students and staff at Yeager Elementary experienced an unsettling moment on January 9 when parts of the school building unexpectedly shook and shifted. Nearly three weeks later, the Corpus Christi Independent School District (CCISD) still does not know what caused the incident.
Trent Wagner, CCISD’s Executive Director for Construction Project Management, said engineers inspected key structural components, including the classroom drop ceilings, concrete slab foundation, exterior brick, and interior walls. Despite their review, no structural issues were found.
Following reports of the shaking, school administrators relocated students and faculty from the affected area as a precaution.
“We relocated eight classrooms in that vicinity as a safety measure. And we kept them relocated until January 16," Yeager Elementary Principal Stacy Mitchan said.
Even with inspections completed, Wagner said the district remains uncertain about what happened.
“With their findings, they didn’t find anything structurally wrong with the building or anything like that. We’re waiting on a formal report. At this point, we’re still kind of like, [what really happened?]'’
Students returned to the affected classrooms on January 17. KRIS 6 News asked Wagner whether the district believed it was safe despite not knowing the cause, Wagner responded, “Yes, sir.”
He added that confidence in safety comes from engineers’ initial assessments.
While the district does not believe the shaking will happen again, Wagner emphasized that they are following expert recommendations.
“Like I said, the engineering firm came out and did a structural check, and they deemed it safe. So we’re following their recommendation," he said.
CCISD is also conducting ongoing maintenance to ensure safety. “Mechanical issues that may happen on the rooftop or inside the building with the air handlers and whatnot, so just making sure we’re doing all of the checks and making sure everything is fully operational," Wagner said.
The district could not provide an estimated date on when they will receive that final report from the engineers.
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