VIDALIA — School has been in session for three weeks, but the students at Concordia Education Center are still attending classes away from their academic home.

Classes at CEC have been meeting in the old vo-tech building at Ferriday High School until repairs to the school’s fire and smoke-damaged main building can be completed.

School board officials had hoped to have the repairs completed by September, but the project has not moved as quickly as hoped, Superintendent Kerry Laster said.

“We had hoped to have everything done by Labor Day, but that didn’t happen,” Laster said.

Repairs have already been made to damaged electrical systems, Laster said.

“You have to have that before you can do anything else,” she said. “The next thing would be to get the painting and scrubbing (of desks and other school equipment) done.”

Some of the repairs that need to be done include replacement of ceiling tiles and insulation.

Smoke was able to spread throughout the school because there are no fire barriers above the false ceilings.

The fire happened during the early morning hours of Aug. 3, exactly one week before the official start of the 2007-2008 academic school year.

The fire was contained before it could spread to the rest of the school, and damage was limited to two rooms, a maintenance workroom and the teachers’ lounge.

The fire damaged an electrical box in the maintenance room and a sofa in the teacher’s lounge.

The total cost of the damage was approximately $400,000.

Two Ferriday teens — ages 14 and 15 — were arrested approximately two weeks later and charged with arson in connection with the fire.

The 14-year-old reportedly came up with the plan to set the school on fire because he wanted to play football, and would not be allowed that opportunity at CEC, the parish alternative school.