School board approves emergency response

April 24--GUILFORD COUNTY -- The Guilford County Board of Education voted unanimously Monday night to allow the superintendent to take any action needed to protect the safety of students and staff of three schools damaged by a tornado that hit east Greensboro and northeast Guilford County April 15.

The resolution declares the damage to Erwin Montessori, Hampton and Peeler Open elementary schools to be a special emergency involving the health and safety of people, their property and the school system's interests.

The emergency declaration is a strategic step in expediting district response to the tornado and in mobilizing GCS resources as quickly as possible. District leaders are still working with various contractors and insurance representatives to determine the total amount lost due to the disaster.

The relocated elementary students started at their new schools Monday morning. Chairman Alan Duncan expressed thanks for the community's outpouring of support and for teachers' volunteering to help other schools with the moves.

"We're thankful everyone has been pitching in," Duncan said. "Not just our students but also our teachers have been adversely impacted. There's a lot of work to be done. It's going to take awhile, this is not just a 100-yard dash."

The board discussed the emergency resolution before Superintendent Sharon Contreras provided answers to 12 specific questions board members had asked about the proposed budget for the 2018-19 school year.

Wes Cashwell, a school board member from High Point, said the $7.5 million request for capital maintenance of ongoing needs such as roofing, HVAC, band uniforms and furniture could leave the school district in a "woefully short position if anything major did occur."

Until the facilities study being conducted in partnership with the Guilford County Board of Commissioners is received early in September, the school district is hesitant to make decisions on major school construction or repairs.

"Based on this budget, I don't think we're going to be doing large repairs at all," Cashwell said. The commissioners know the school buildings are theirs also, he added.

Contreras said her staff was trying to be reasonable in making the budget request. "The board can certainly direct me to make a higher request," she said.

Last year, the commissioners approved $5 million of the school board's $10 million capital budget request. The proposed budget includes a $12.4 million capital budget request.

Chief Operations Officer Scott McCully confirmed he has been in conversation since the April 15 storm with MGT Consulting Group, the firm the school board and county commissioners hired to study school facility needs.

School board member Dianne Bellamy Small credited Contreras for overseeing relocations of the damaged schools. "Everywhere I saw her, she was the leader," she said.

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