JESSYVILLE — Initial estimates of tornado damage to the Jesseville School District currently put it in the $1.5 million to $2 million range, but a more comprehensive assessment is still pending, according to the district’s superintendent. in progress.
Superintendent Melissa Spears said Wednesday that an insurance adjuster did a walk-through assessment on Tuesday and believed the loss would be about $1.5 million to $2 million. She said, however, that more accurate figures will be given sometime this week, possibly even today, after a more comprehensive assessment has been made.
Monday’s tornado hit students at 2:38 pm after winter break, causing significant external damage to the school building and internal damage to the school’s band building. Two staff members were slightly injured, but no students were injured.
The school district announced late Tuesday that it will use alternative teaching methods for the rest of the week while cleaning and repairs continue throughout the campus. said there is.
“I always try to give parents and teachers as much preparation time as possible,” she said. ”
She said the main concern on Tuesday was everyone’s safety as they began to identify what was damaged.
“Towards the end of the day we got together and assessed where we were. I felt like I could come back.
“The decision was made that we need the rest of the week to make sure everything is in place and ready, rather than saying ‘hey, I’ll let you know what’s going on tomorrow night tomorrow night. We’ll be back on Monday. That’s our hope,” she said.
Spears said the school district will reassess campus safety today and Friday.
“If I can’t make it on Monday by Friday noon, I’ll let everyone know,” she said. If possible, we would like to have classes here on Mondays. That is our goal.”
The district does not have internet hotspots for students to use, but the AMI plan allows students without internet access to go anywhere with Wi-Fi and download assignments. Students are given a list of locations where they can access free Wi-Fi.
“When they park in our parking lot, they can access our Wi-Fi. McDonald’s has free Wi-Fi,” she said.
“Here in the community, there are various locations with free Wi-Fi where you can go and download assignments and materials, go home, work on those materials the next day, and come back that afternoon or evening. You get access, you upload your completed assignments, and you download the next day’s assignments, so you have a little extra time before the assignment’s due date.”
She also said students with internet access at home are expected to meet and work with teachers virtually online.
On Wednesday, in addition to general cleaning of debris and fallen trees, roofers inspected the roof at the site and patched holes where possible. A large crane arrived in the afternoon to remove the destroyed lights at the soccer field today. Speers said the work will continue until Saturday.
She said their top priority is getting elementary school ready and replacing some of the damaged ceiling tiles and grids in the building. I turned it back on and confirmed it worked.
Speers said they are doing everything they can to get students back on campus as soon as possible.
So far, the focus has been primarily on elementary schools, cafeterias and HVAC systems, as well as general cleaning.
“We felt that was an area where we could focus and bring the students back,” she said. Can we come in and cook and serve food? I got it right. I took everything I needed out of it and rearranged them so I could keep the band class.”
The Jesseville Sports Arena, where the Lions and Lady Lions host basketball games, was not damaged and play continued as normal. She said Wednesday that unless something changes, tonight’s home game will go ahead as scheduled.
She thanked the community for the support it received. She said Chambers Bank provided staff and volunteers with lunch on Wednesday, and multiple agencies volunteered to work on the cleanup.
“I would also like to thank the Garland County Sheriff’s Department and the Garland County Emergency Management Department and the volunteer fire department. I don’t want to leave anyone out, but the response that Monday afternoon was . It was amazing the way they came and helped and helped and supported.
