Neoga Schools to be Closed This Week After Storm Damage Early Saturday Morning

The storm that struck Neoga just after midnight Saturday morning has led to the cancellation of classes in the Neoga Unit #3 District for the week of March 17-21.

More than 100 members of the Neoga community gathered in the Neoga Community Center Sunday evening to hear from Neoga Superintendent Kevin Haarman and others about the situation and the planned response.

Both the elementary and the junior-senior high school buildings were damaged, with much more damage done to the junior-senior high school building.

Haarman reminded those in attendance of earlier tough times for the Neoga district and how the district rebounded. Haarman said, "Nearly 10 years ago this district suffered through some of the toughest times in our schools' history and we rebounded and thrived. Our recovery from this event will be no different. We will recover and we will thrive. As a district, we remain steadfast in our commitment to ensuring the safety of our students and staff and restoring normalcy as soon as possible. Thank you for your unwavering support and trust in us."

Those earlier tough times were financial and led to discussions of the future of the district. The district has recovered well.

Greg Sapp spoke with Kevin Haarman after the meeting. Here is their conversation...

The response to the storms has been quick. An insurance adjuster, the district architect, and a structural engineer are already at work. Emergency roofing and constuction crews, along with water mitigation are addressing immediate repairs.

Haarman discussed the one item to be addressed during the coming week will include development of "a long-range plan for student instruction". 

The storm did the most significant damage to the gym, ag area and greenhouse, shop, and science labs. Haarman made the photos posted by the district on their Facebook page for us to share with you...

ELEMENTARY BUILDING:

JUNIOR-SENIOR HIGH

Architect Andrew Ewing reported that damage to the elementary building includes the roof, the entryway, and the gym wall. Damage to the junior-senior high school includes the ag shop, the south gym, the north gym, the junior high instructional area, and the north section.

Work yet to come at the elementary building will include gym wall reconstruction, main entrance reconstruction, continued monitoring of the roof. Work at the junior-senior high school will include in the north end removing the ceiling systems to conduct structural assessment of the roof deck, inspect utilities, continued monitoring of the roof and in the south area, asssessments are still being made as to the severity of the damage.

As to student attendance, the current plan is to house Grades Pre-K through 8th grade at the elementary building, Grades 6-8 in various locations such as the library, stage space, gym, and possibly combining elementary sections into one classroom to create additional space with team-teaching a possibility. At the high school, there are plans to reoccupy the north high school space with the Community Center as a backup option and approach local churches as what was termed a "backup to the backup".