Springfield Public Schools declares emergency, opening respite centers to those without power

Miranda Cyr, Eugene Register-Guard
Updated ·2 min read
Utility lines rest on the sidewalk along Main Street near Bob Straub Parkway in Springfield on Wednesday following a series of winter storms including an ice storm overnight.
Utility lines rest on the sidewalk along Main Street near Bob Straub Parkway in Springfield on Wednesday following a series of winter storms including an ice storm overnight.

Springfield Public Schools has declared an emergency due to damage to school property and power outages caused by this week's ice storms.

Springfield Schools, which will remain closed Thursday, held an emergency school board meeting Wednesday evening to pass a resolution declaring an emergency in the district.

Chief Operations Officer Brett Yancey said more than 70% of the district's schools are still without power. Some schools also have damage such as water infiltrating buildings and classrooms, ceiling tiles coming down, and ice dams clogging drainage systems.

Yancey said he has been in contact with the district's insurance carrier and is working to get a restoration company to perform safety assessments of the effected facilities.

Yancey read the emergency resolution to the four present board members, which stated the damage is widespread and an initial damage estimate is expected to surpass the district's insurance deductible of $25,000.

"It allows us to provide emergency service, procurement of goods and emergency procurement of goods and services and take any action we need to, to deal with the emergency at hand," Yancey said. "What this allows is, the superintendent or designee, to essentially move forward with whatever action is necessary for our buildings, public health, welfare and safety."

The present board members, Ken Kohl, Jonathan Light, Nicole De Graff and Kelly Mason, voted unanimously to pass the resolution.

Springfield Public Schools offers respite for those without power

The school district will open two "respite centers" at two schools that have had consistent power during the storms: Springfield High School and Two River-Dos Ríos Elementary School, located at 875 Seventh St. and 1084 G St., respectively.

The shelters will open starting Thursday at 4 p.m., then be fully operating through Sunday, targeting Springfield Schools' families and staff who do not have power. The Springfield Utility Board reported 12,000 customers were without power as of Wednesday afternoon.

Yancey said the centers will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and offer two meals a day from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Yancey said the district will reevaluate on Sunday to see if extending the respite centers operations would be necessary.

"We've had numerous operations and facilities and transportation staff, on site, doing everything that they can to mitigate the ice storm issues, and things just keep coming at us," said SPS Superintendent Todd Hamilton. "This is a relentless crew that is continues to do everything they can.

"Once we get power back, and we can ensure safe entry and exit from our schools, we will be doing everything that we can to get our kids back in those schools as soon as possible," he said.

Miranda Cyr reports on education for The Register-Guard. You can contact her at mcyr@registerguard.com or find her on Twitter @mirandabcyr

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Springfield Public Schools declares emergency due to storm damage