In The Wake Of Irene,

School District ‘Pretty Much Intact’

By Eliza Hallabeck

Following Tropical Storm Irene’s stint in Newtown, all of Newtown’s schools, with the exception Reed Intermediate School, were without power. For the most part though, district officials note minimal damage to school properties.

By Wednesday, as Board of Education Chair William Hart said, four of Newtown’s schools had power restored, but the rest still remained without power. Generators, Mr Hart said, are located at most of the schools to keep “the essentials,” such as cooling stations for food, running.

“We’re hoping we can get the other three [schools] up shortly,” said Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson.

Newtown Public Schools Director of Facilities Gino Faiella was in Newtown over the weekend assessing damage to the schools. On Sunday afternoon, Mr Faiella said he noted no significant damage to the district’s properties, and, after closer inspection, he said the same on Wednesday.

“It was pretty bad here and there,” said the facilities director, “but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.”

No damage occurred that will need to be fixed, Mr Faiella said.

Having the Newtown Middle School roof project roughly 90 percent complete, he continued, was helpful. Crews working on the project had the new roof’s edging fastened down, according to Mr Faiella, in preparation for the storm.

“They did a great job,” he said of the contractors on the NMS project.

Dr Robinson said only small leaks in the cafeteria, where new skylights are being installed, are left to be fixed, but those were anticipated and will be corrected.

Overall the middle school is “pristine and ready for kids to come learn,” said Mr Faiella, who noted NMS Head Custodian Don Roos’s team’s effort in preparing the school.

Mr Faiella also said other district staff deserve recognition for helping residents dealing with the tropical storm and its aftermath.

“Our teams at [Newtown High School] and [Reed Intermediate School] did a wonderful job helping out,” said Mr Faiella. “They deserve credit for helping through the storm.”

At NHS the team helped accommodate residents at the established emergency shelter, directing both traffic and people where to go. Reed and NHS were also open for residents in need of showers following the storm.

District Transportation Coordinator Cathy Hydeck said the transportation office never lost power, and was able to field any questions from concerned residents as they came up.

“We’re all set to go,” said Ms Hydeck regarding the first day of school, now set for September 6. “We just need power at the schools, that would be helpful, and the roads to be cleared so we can actually get to the kids.”

Downed trees and other road-related complications were a major concern for the transportation department by Wednesday, according to Ms Hydeck. Everything regarding transportation routes for the 2011-12 academic year remain the same, Ms Hydeck said. Updates for the routes are available on the school district’s website, www.newtown.k12.ct.us.

Before Tropical Storm Irene visited the region, Ms Hydeck said an e-mail was sent out to Newtown’s owner-operator bus drivers — including the three owners of MTM Transportation Inc who are also owner-operators themselves — who function as the town’s emergency transportation in times of need. Ms Hydeck said responses to the e-mail started coming back within ten minutes, with people volunteering their buses if needed.

“They always make their buses available,” said Ms Hydeck. 

The buses were never needed for emergency transportation, said Ms Hydeck, but buses have been used in the past for evacuations.

School district Director of Business Ron Bienkowski reported minimal financial impact from Tropical Storm Irene. While food was lost at Hawley and Middle Gate School that will need to be replaced, the generators running at all of Newtown’s schools, with the exception of Hawley because it does not have a generator, run efficiently. The generators run on diesel fuel, and it was topped off last year, according to the business director.

If needed, Mr Bienkowski said funds could be redirected from the heating oil fuel budget to replenish the generators.

From what Board of Education Chair William Hart could surmise by Wednesday, the school district made it through the storm “pretty much intact.” Mr Faiella noted some shrubs and branches were effected by the storm, but all had a minimal damage to school properties.