Springfield Public Schools to stay closed with crews still assessing ice storm damage

Springfield Public Schools plans to keep schools closed through the end of the week and will continue over the weekend to assess the damage caused by ice storms, officials said Thursday.

SPS facilities team members were scouring the halls of Agnes Stewart Middle School on Thursday morning, shining flashlights toward leaks in the ceilings and still-damp carpets. Throughout the school, ceiling tiles had water stains and were bowed in, with some having broken completely.

Chief Operations Officer Brett Yancey said at least six to 10 schools had damage, with the facilities team still in the process of initial assessments.

Additionally, 11 of SPS's 21 facilities were still without power as of Thursday morning. The majority of those were on the east side of the district.

Agnes Stewart was the school with the most widespread damage. Yancey estimated that 70-75% of the school had some sort damage.

"We want to get our kids back in buildings, but I can't bring kids in this building in the condition it's in right now," Yancey said.

Springfield schools face electrical, water damage from winter storm

Most of the damage was caused by "ice dams," meaning the drainage systems and gutters have been frozen, trapping any water on building roofs, according to Yancey. With no where else to go, the water seeps into small crevices in the roofs, making its way into the buildings.

As the ice melts, more water will continue to seep in. Yancey said there's not much the district can do to stop it.

"(We're) mitigating as much damage as we can, before it actually turns into substantial damage, and I'm not saying that this isn't going to be substantial, because this is going to be pretty substantial when you have almost every classroom with something like that," Yancey said, gesturing to a fallen tile in the Agnes Stewart library. "There's going to be probably a lot more surprises coming to us as the ice continues to melt."

Yancey said they'll need to dry out the ceilings to prevent mold from growing.

Electrical damage is another obstacle SPS is considering. Terry Rutledge, SPS facilities coordinator, said much of the potential electrical damage won't be discovered until power is restored to all buildings.

Rutledge added that many of the facilities have emergency lighting and fire alarms that will all have run out of power, either due to extended use or water damage.

"We are looking at in the thousands of batteries we'll have to replace," Rutledge said.

On the exterior, downed trees and branches were also a concern.

"We have a lot of safety concerns and safety hazards on our campuses ... making sure that we don't have kids are climbing on limbs," Yancey said. "Kids are gonna be kids, so that's the other really big concern we have is all of the debris."

What are the next steps for Springfield Public Schools?

For now, the SPS is aiming to open some schools on Monday. The district will send out information over the weekend about which schools will be open when.

Yancey said SPS is focusing on schools with power first because they will be the quickest to get back up and running.

On Wednesday evening, SPS declared a state of emergency, which Yancey said allows the district more flexibility to address the obstacles caused by the ice storm. It also allows them to put money toward mitigating and fixing some damage. SPS staff have had to travel to Albany and Roseburg to buy generators to supplement power in some of the schools.

"Safety is our top priority," said SPS spokesperson Allison McGowan. "The buildings have to be safe to get kids back in. The education portion is really important, but safety is the top priority."

SPS administration is considering the possibility of remote learning if needed, but that is still up in the air.

Yancey said this is the most destruction SPS has ever faced.

"I've only been in this district for 22 years, but as I talk to our more experienced staff, this is as bad as any of our current staff has ever seen," Yancey said.

Despite the closures, many district staff are keeping busy with work. Yancey thanked staff — many of whom are without power themselves — for their dedication.

"We had 95 employees show up at our facilities department this morning reporting to work, that's your facilities, employees, custodial employees and transportation employees," Yancey said. "People want to help, and that's awesome."

SPS also has opened two respite centers at district schools have had the most consistent power: Springfield High and Two River-Dos Rios Elementary.

The centers are intended for SPS families and staff and will offer two meal services per day from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. The centers will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at least through Sunday.

Yancey said each center has prepared hot meals for 500, but depending on the turnout, they are prepared to cook more as people come in. The centers also have pallets of bottled water to distribute to help provide clean water as the Springfield Utility Board boil notice is still in effect for an indefinite time.

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 schools to remain closed due to ice storm damage