ROTTERDAM – It was at the beginning of last summer when more than 150 migrant individuals moved into the Super 8 Motel in Rotterdam. On Thursday night, the entire building was empty.

Town officials ordered the mandatory evacuation Wednesday afternoon after finding the fire alarm and sprinkler system inoperable.

“We’ve been told it could take up to a couple of weeks (to make repairs),” said Bill Sherman, of Allies For Justice Schenectady County, a volunteer organization that’s been providing assistance for migrant families since they moved into the Super 8 in July 2023.

“What I’ve learned from the families is they feel welcome here, they want to stay here, their children have some stability,” Sherman said.

But for the now, the evacuation has –temporarily — destabilized lives, especially the children. Sixty-four of them are currently enrolled in the Mohonasen School District, but after being relocated to six other area motels, some in Albany County, only three families managed to get their kids to school on Thursday.

“They’ve got a sense of belonging, a sense of identity, and they’re learning English among many other things,” Shannon Shine, Mohonasen’s School Superintendent, pointed out. “They’re socializing so this is a pretty darn good place for them to be.”

Shine says the relocation and scattering of families has created a significant logistical transportation dilemma.

“We have a driver shortage so getting drivers and buses at both arrival and dismissal time is almost impossible,” he said.

“I have almost zero confidence that this (fire alarm system) can be rectified and families can move back in soon,” Sherman said.

There within lies the truly disheartening aspect of the circumstance.

“These guys have had a rough go and a pretty harsh transition and of course there’s a lot of politics surrounding the issue,” Shine points out. “But that’s not our purview. We’re just here to serve kids.”

But it’s not just kids who are facing the predicament of uncertainty.

“The adults in this group, many of them have legal, bonafide jobs right now,” Sherman said. “It’s taken months for that to happen.”

Even though it isn’t clear at this point when families will be able to move back in, it is painfully obvious those folks already know what life interrupted feels like.