GREENSBORO, N.C. -- The Guilford County Schools Board of Education unanimously voted to adopt a resolution declaring a "special emergency" after having to close three schools due to severed tornado damage.
On Sunday, April 15, a EF2 tornado hit Guilford and Rockingham counties, coming right through Greensboro. The storm damaged Erwin Montessori, Hampton Elementary and Peeler Elementary so severely that they will remain closed through at least the end of the 2017-2018 school year. On Monday, April 23, students and staff from those affected school started at 3 other schools as part of the district's relocation plan.
Monday evening, the school board presented and approved a resolution that allows the Board to take "any and all actions necessary to preserve and safeguard the health and safety of the people, their property and interests of the school system."
School leaders say this declaration allows them to enter into contracts with companies who can fix the schools and it also paves the way to try and secure federal funding in light of the disaster.
After approving the resolution, school leaders talked about the state of the damaged school and a timeline for retrieving items inside and making repairs. School officials are working with insurance adjusters to take inventory of all items inside the damaged schools to determine what can be saved and what is a total loss.
"We want to make sure our insurance carrier has done what they need to do in terms of inventory," explains Scott McCully, COO of Guilford County Schools. "We want to respect their timetable but at the same time we also want to be able to get our teachers into those facilities as quickly as possible to get their personal items."
McCully says their plan is to try and start getting teachers into classrooms by the end of this week to pick up their personal items. The district not only has to wait for the insurance adjusters, but they also have to make sure the buildings are secure, which means they're safe to go inside. The resolution will allow them to do that - making sure the roofs won't cave in and all leaks are plugged up.
Dr. Sharon Contreras, the district's superintendent expressed her gratitude for all the hard work and quick efforts to make the relocation happen, but says touring the destruction has got them thinking about the future. She says the focus will be on repairing the damaged schools, but also ensuring other schools are upgraded, too.
"When we looked at those mobile units, just a pile of debris," Dr. Contreras says of the mobile homes used as an extension of the buildings. "I don't think it's acceptable that we continue to have facilities that necessitate the use of mobile units."
The district also decided to turn Wednesday's half day into a full day of school for students due to the time off in the days following the tornado.