‘Lucky in many ways’: School board details progress on Springfield repairs

Wilson County Schools officials lauded the resilience of students, staff members, parents and community members and recognized vendors brought in to repair Springfield Middle School in the days since an EF3 tornado damaged the building Aug. 8.

Teachers were invited back Tuesday to work in parts of the building.

“There is a song that says, ‘What a difference a day makes.’ In our case, it’s what a difference 10 days have made,” said Christine Fitch, chairman of the Wilson County Board of Education at Monday’s monthly meeting. “There was a difference in that day because of the quick action that was taken in order to lesson the amount of damage that could have been done.

“It certainly could have been much worse had we not been able to get Builder Services in in the quick time frame that they were in and getting us turned around. It does make a difference in a day, but our 10 days has been absolutely phenomenal.”

Fitch said students will return to school on Monday as planned following their summer vacation.

“We would like to thank Dr. (Lane) Mills and staff, Builder Services of North Carolina, all of our vendors who assisted us and the Wilson County citizens for the work, care and concern shown and shared in the wake of the EF3 tornado that damaged Springfield Middle School and the Lucama community,” Fitch said. “We are happy that students at Springfield will be able to remain at the school together even though some cramped quarters may be in place for a short while, while we make sure that other accommodations are made, but the students will stay together.”

Superintendent Mills shared photographs of the storm damage opposite pictures that showed progress that had been made since then.

Mills said staff and students and the families from the Springfield community “have been nothing short of amazing.”

“They have made a very difficult situation go so well for us and for themselves with their patience and their support and their willingness to be partners,” Mills said. “It is not every day that that happens, but it certainly happens here. They have certainly been partners to our success in getting Springfield open so quickly. We were unlucky, but lucky in many ways with this issue.”

The board announced following a special meeting last week that students and staff could stay at Springfield.

“That was our plan all along,” Mills said. “We did not want to do remote. We did not want to do the relocation.”

Mills planned to meet with staff Tuesday to continue the recovery process.

“It is still a very fluid situation. Everything is kind of falling into place, luckily,” Mills said.

Mills said the district was fortunate that many systems came back online.

“Everything came back up on our network and our wireless systems,” Mills said. “The only thing that didn’t were those access points that were gone because they were probably in a field somewhere, in the bottom of a pond or in a tree. We don’t know, but those that were missing were obviously not going to connect. We started work on that last week and, lo and behold, that worked for us as well.”

The school’s chiller came back on, which was “a great day.”

Mills called it “a quick turnaround.”

“So, considering where were after the massive tornado hit us and where we are now, we are very blessed and very fortunate,” Mills said.

Nearly $3,800 has been raised to purchase supplies for teachers whose classrooms were affected.

That is coming from outside donations to the school booster club as well as Wilson Education Partnership.

Mills call the tornado strike “overwhelming and heartbreaking.”

“I have never seen anything like that before,” Mills said.

IN OTHER BUSINESS

• The board was informed of contracts less than $90,000, including a $66,883 contract with Singer T&L for a serving line at Wilson Academy of Applied Technology; a contract not to exceed $80,000 to Pro Care Therapy for providing therapy consultants; a $53,363 contract to the company Renaissance, for Renaissance Star CBM Math and Star Math Subscription Renewal; an $83,000 contract with Venture Rehabilitation Group, Inc., doing business as Strive to Thrive to provide comprehensive tutoring, classroom support and instructional intervention services designed for students

• The board agreed to apply for a Needs-Based Public School Capital Fund grant of $42 million that would be used to build a new elementary school at the site of Wells Elementary School if the existing Wells Elementary School and nearby Margaret Hearne Elementary School are consolidated.

• The board approved revisions to the 2024-2025 early college calendar. Due to inclement weather those days, Thursday, Aug. 8, and Friday, Aug. 9, have been changed from instructional days to non-days. Wednesday, May 21, and Thursday, May 22, will become optional teacher workdays. Friday, May 23, will become a holiday. Additionally, Oct. 9 will be changed from mandatory teacher workday to an instructional day. Friday, Feb. 7, will be changed from an optional teacher workday to an instructional day.

• The board approved a revised policy on extracurricular activities and student organizations and a draft policy on private therapy providers.

• The board approved a contract not to exceed $100,000 with the Birch Agency for speed pathology services and also approved a contract not to exceed $700,000 with Swiftway Transit for transporting wheelchair-bound students.

• The board nominated Vester Auto Group for the North Carolina School Boards Association Champion of Education Award for the company’s multi-year support donating backpacks and support of teachers of the year.

The post ‘Lucky in many ways’: School board details progress on Springfield repairs first appeared on Restoration NewsMedia .