On May 8, a fire broke out in Pascack Valley High School’s kitchen, resulting in closure and major renovations to the kitchen. Six months later, the kitchen is still unusable.

Each school day since the fire, PV’s food provider Pomptonian has brought in food from its location at Pascack Hills High School: sandwiches, salads, and pizza. Pomptonian still sells snacks and drinks as normal.

While the kitchen was eventually intended to be renovated over the summer and then delayed to the first few weeks of school, students are wondering why it remains closed.

According to PV Principal John Puccio, the kitchen is nearing completion, but construction negligence has led to further delays

“Understand that when we’re doing construction, sometimes we’re at the mercy of the construction company,” Puccio said. “Unfortunately, they weren’t following through on their schedule. We ran into a little problem with people [from the construction company] not showing up… that put us back a little.”

Once the construction company finishes its job, the kitchen then needs to be cleared by two safety checks.

“[The kitchen] was painted, it’s ready to go. The new ceiling is in, and new lights were put in, and we have to do two inspections: a building inspection and a health department inspection,” Puccio said.

Puccio expects the kitchen to be open pretty soon after the checks are completed. Kitchen appliances will need to be moved in — they are currently in storage — and then the kitchen will be operational within that week.

Even though the kitchen’s status is seemingly out of the school’s control, students are still frustrated with their lunch options.

“We’ve been eating the same food over the past six months,” PV junior Brendan Haller said. “[During] freshman year and halfway through sophomore year, the vibes were better.”

While Puccio couldn’t give an exact date for reopening, he is hoping the kitchen will be operational sometime in December.