Some students in the Blind Brook School District could be weeks away from returning to the classroom after the state closed their school over safety concerns.

Blind Brook School District officials say they submitted a temporary application to the state to bring students back to the Ridge Street Elementary School next week.

School officials couldn't give an exact timeline of when the Ridge Street School will reopen but said their plan to bring back some students hit a snag Tuesday night.

The district's plans submitted to the state Tuesday weren't fully approved and it could be several weeks to fix the issues.

At the same time, the district submitted an application to temporarily move fifth grade students to the middle/high school building and is waiting to hear back. Officials are confident the shift could happen as early as next week.

The school had numerous fire safety violations and lacked a certificate of occupancy because of ongoing and extensive construction in the building, according to the state Education Department.

As a result, students have been moved to remote learning for this entire week.

Parents and the board battled at Tuesday’s meeting over who was at fault and how quickly progress is being made.

District Superintendent Dr. Patrick Brimstein told parents at Tuesday’s meeting that he and the board are working as quickly as possible to get kids back in the classroom.

"Our number one priority again is, and always has been, to resolve these issues, finish this project, and bring the kids in the building,” he said. MISSING WORD

An inspector from the state will be at the school on Wednesday morning to check in and see how much progress the district has made. The next board meeting is scheduled for Thursday.