The numbers have not been completely crunched, but it looks like a pair of storms did a half million dollars’ worth of damage to Beecher School District 200U.
Insurance will pay for most of the damage; however, the district must pay for the repairs first and wait to get reimbursed.
At the Aug. 19 school board meeting (which was postponed from Aug. 12 because of the Aug. 11 storm), Superintendent Jack Gaham said that the July 27 storm resulted in $320,000 in damages, including the roof at the junior high school.
He added that the numbers weren’t completely in yet, but he estimated that the Aug. 11 weather event did $200,000 worth of damage with the junior high roof taking another beating.
Repairs are already underway for the roof damage from the first storm.
“It’s going to be a little loud,” Gaham said. “But it must be fixed. We can’t just do it on weekends.”
The damage report came as the superintendent was trying to put the finishing touches on the district’s budget and said that it will likely show a $400,000 deficit.
“That’s because of the insurance claims and we don’t know when the reimbursements will come back,” he said.
The second storm caused the school year to start a day late, and that day will be made up on Feb. 26.
“Beecher is lucky compared to our surrounding areas,” Gaham said. “I appreciate people’s understanding and patience as we look at the whole spectrum of things that allow us to make decisions in the best interests of all of our students.”
Cell phone policy underway
The policy of no cell phones in the classroom had a microscopic sample size of three days, but Beecher High School Principal Mike Meyer told the board it’s working out as 70 percent of the students put their phones in provided boxes and 30 percent leave the phones in their lockers.
“Students are following policy for the most part,” he said. “They are not pushing back.
“The only thing that I think is going to be a problem is study hall. They may try to sneak them in because I’m allowing book bags. But we’ll work through that. It’s a work in progress.”
Comings and goings
The board acknowledged the resignations of Maria Carrera as full-time bus driver and Jason Hodac as marching band director.
The board approved the employment of Lindsey Williams as the elementary school administrative assistant, Ashley Montero as a teacher aide at the elementary school and Steve Knaack as full-time bus driver.