‘They are safe’: Riverside Christian School relocates after back-to-back floods

LOST CREEK, Ky. (WYMT) - In less than two years, Riverside Christian School staff found themselves scooping mud out of their building, not once but twice.

“The week of the flood, I reached out to our entire staff and gave everybody an out. I said ‘nobody signed up to do it twice, if you need to go, go. I get it.’ It’s a lot and our entire staff stayed,” said principal Meg Asher.

The staff stuck together through the hard days and murky water, and Asher said they were not even sure if the doors would open for the ‘22-’23 school year, but they did.

“With Jesus it just happened. It’s hard to explain. It doesn’t make a lot of sense it just happened,” she said.

As the school staff and students prepare for another school year, the staff recently announced a partnership with Breathitt County Schools. Asher said they purchased Marie Roberts-Caney School to relocate out of the flood plain.

“We knew that they were consolidating, we knew that they were moving, we knew that the building would be up for grabs, but the logistics of that we were like okay what do we need to do,” said Asher. “It was everybody. It was everybody working together, and it happened, it worked. It was a lot of hard work on their end and on our end.”

The new location at Marie Roberts-Caney School is just down the road from their original Riverside Christian School location.

The staff said they are excited for students to walk through the doors on August 16th without having to worry about another flood.

“Our brains don’t function unless they feel safe. We can’t do anything else in our day,” said Riverside Christian School councilor Lisa Bedtelyon. “So not just for our students but for our families who drop their kids off. It’s like okay they are okay. They are safe.”

As the school enters a new era, the staff said they are excited to welcome the kids to a safe place and they are excited for the future.

“We’re excited to start school. I’ve heard from some parents that we have kids who are really nervous about a new building. I was like look I’m the principal and I still don’t know my way around. I’m getting lost. We’re all learning together and there’s a lot of fun in it. There’s a lot of fun in that,” said Asher.

Riverside Christian School purchased the new building from Breathitt County Schools for $350,000.

If you would like to help assist Riverside Christian School, click here to visit their website.

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