Bay District Schools to demolish Everitt Middle School 5 years after Hurricane Michael

Nathan Cobb, Panama City News Herald
·1 min read
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PANAMA CITY BEACH − Local officials are now taking the steps to demolish a school damaged more than five years ago by Hurricane Michael.

According to Sharon Michalik, spokesperson for Bay District Schools, the district "is in the initial planning stages" to demolish Everitt Middle School, which has sat unused since the Category 5 storm struck the Panhandle in October 2018.

"The decision to demolish Everitt Middle School stems from the extensive damage it sustained during Hurricane Michael," Michalik wrote in an email. "Since the hurricane, we have been engaged in a comprehensive process with FEMA to secure funding for rebuilding and repairing hurricane-damaged structures. After meeting all of FEMA's requirements and completing an exhaustive process to secure maximum reimbursement, we are ready to move to the process of demolition."

She noted the students who used to attend Everitt Middle School were transferred to the neighboring Rutherford High School after the storm. Rutherford then expanded from being just a high school to including middle school students as well.

Despite the influx of students, Rutherford still "remains under capacity," Michalik wrote. The district also has completed multiple campus modifications and renovations to separate older and younger students.

The district's long-term solution is for those students to remain at Rutherford.

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"Our district has several combination schools, and parents favor this model," Michalik wrote. "We are conducting a thorough study of our community's building and neighborhood expansions to determine the best locations for new schools or construction on existing campuses.

"As our community experiences substantial growth, our aim is to position ourselves to serve both specific areas and the broader community effectively."

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Bay District Schools plans to demolish Everitt Middle School