Early damage estimate as much as $2M for Jessieville schools after EF-1 tornado, superintendent says

JESSIEVILLE — Tornado damage to the Jessieville School District is currently projected in the $1.5-$2 million range, according to initial, rough estimates, but a more comprehensive assessment is still underway, according to the district’s superintendent.

Superintendent Melissa Speers said Wednesday that a more precise figure would be given sometime this week — possibly as early as Thursday — after a more comprehensive assessment was performed.

Monday’s tornado hit on students’ first day back after the winter break around 2:30 p.m., causing significant exterior damage, and some interior damage to the school’s band building. While two staff members suffered minor injuries, no students were hurt.

The district announced late Tuesday it would use Alternative Methods of Instruction days the rest of this week, while cleanup and repairs continued throughout campus. Speers said they hope to resume classes on campus Monday.

“I always try to make sure that I can give my parents and my teachers as much time to prepare as possible,” she said. “So I try to make decisions with that in mind.”

Though the district does not have internet hot spots for students to use, its AMI plan allows for students without internet access to go to a spot where there is Wi-Fi and download their assignments. Students have been given a list of locations where they can access free Wi-Fi.

“If they pull up in our parking lot, they can access our Wi-Fi. Mcdonald’s has free Wi-Fi,” she said.

She also noted that for those students who do have home internet access, they are expected to be online, virtually meeting with their teachers and working.

On Wednesday, roofing crews were on-site examining the roofs and patching holes where possible, in addition to the general cleanup of debris and downed trees. A large crane arrived during the afternoon and will be on the football field today taking down the lights that were destroyed. Speers noted work will go through Saturday.

She said their first priority is getting the elementary school ready and replacing some of the damaged ceiling tiles and grids inside of the building. Wednesday afternoon, air conditioners were set back up after being blown over and checked to ensure they were working.

Speers said they are doing everything they can to get students back on campus as quickly as possible.

So far, the focus has primarily been on the elementary school, the cafeteria, and the HVAC systems, along with general cleanup, she said.

“We felt like that was an area we could focus on and get students back in,” she said. “We definitely need to know before we can bring kids back, can we get in and cook and provide meals? So we focused on that. We know that the band building is not going to be occupiable for a while, so we focused on getting everything we needed out of there so that we could still have band class, and relocating them.”

The Jessieville Sports Arena, where the Lions and Lady Lions host their basketball games, was not damaged and play would continue as usual. She said Wednesday that Thursday’s home games would be played as planned unless something changes.