After partial building failure at Lee high, District leader stresses safety of rest of complex

The portion of the Lee Middle and High School complex where the collapse and clean-up occurred. (Supplied/Godfrey Lee Public Schools)

By K.D. Norris
ken@wktv.org

Kevin Polston, Superintendent of Godfrey Lee Public Schools, was really busy this week and it really had little to do with the opening of school in six weeks.

In the wake of the June multi-day collapse of a portion of the Lee Middle and High School, with the damaged area now cleared and the remainder of the multi-building complex independently inspected and judged structurally sound, Polston led a series of meetings to report the current status and possible future plans.

After an earlier report to the Godfrey Lee Public Schools Board of Education, Polston has led meetings with staff, city and educational community leaders, community and parents as well as host a press conference. In all the meetings, Polston repeatedly stressed three things:

Building design with affected area in color.

First, the cause of the unforeseeable failure is now clear and rigorous inspections led by Ross Smith, WJE Associates Structural Engineer, of the other buildings in the complex show no similar structural problems.“The building is safe and we are opening as scheduled,” Polston said on Thursday, adding that both the inspector and the superintendent himself “would put my children” in the building.

Second, the district, despite being hampered by local economic factors including the district’s near maximum school millage rate, has plans — three in fact — to rebuild the section as quickly as possible, both due to educational need and insurance reimbursement requirements.

Third and finally, Polston and the entire Godfrey Lee community are grateful that the building failure — the failure of a single wall section actually — occurred after the school year and when the students were absent, and in two incidents over a single weekend when the building was unoccupied. “This would have been a catastrophe if it had been occupied,” he said.

The biggest concern now for the district, Polston said, is that parents will transfer their students — and the funds the district gets for educating their students — to other school districts due to lack of information or misinformation.

“It is extremely important to make sure we have the trust of the community … it is important they get the facts,” Polston said. “We want to make sure they know it is safe to send their kids here.”