Update: Saturday, April 1, 2023

 Update:  April 1, 2023

Well, the last week has been interesting to say the least.  After Tuesday night’s fire in one of our air exchange units there has been a lot happening at school and I hope the following sequence of events helps you understand our current reality and plan to move forward.

Tuesday, March 28: 

• An ERV unit started on fire causing extensive smoke damage in sections of our Early Childhood pod.
• We want to thank everyone who assisted in minimizing the event and limiting any damages to only smoke.  We are fortunate that no structural or water damage occurred to our facility.

Wednesday, March 29:

• ServiceMaster arrived on scene around 12:45 AM on Wednesday morning.  Air mitigation units were brought in to begin cleaning the air and reducing the smell of smoke in the Early Childhood section of our building.
• AHSTW cancelled school on Wednesday to begin understanding the situation and to provide access to any groups assisting in clean up or review.
• We also needed time to determine how we might be able to plan for upcoming days.
• It was determined that we would be able to hold school in all sections of our building other than the early childhood pod.  
• We also determined that an extended amount of cleaning would be needed in the impacted area and AHSTW staff would not have access to their area and classrooms on Wednesday.
• This realization led us to cancel school on Thursday and Friday for grades PK, TK, and Kindergarten.
• We also determined that the amount of cleaning needed for a safe return to the building would require us to find alternate locations for learning in the future.
• Kindergarten will be held in the AEA Building near Casey’s.
• TK and PK will be held at Trinity Lutheran Church in Avoca.

Thursday, March 30 & Friday, March 31:

• Cancelling school allowed AHSTW staff members to meet with representatives from ServiceMaster and our insurance company to better understand the amount of cleaning needed before a return is allowed.
• Findings:
• Ceiling tiles were removed from the most impacted classrooms. 
• It was later determined that all ceiling tiles would need to be removed from the early childhood pod. [This was completed on Saturday morning.]
• Our building has ductwork wrapped in insulation and it was determined that the insulation would need to be removed and ductwork rewrapped. [This will be in the upcoming week.]
• Classroom items would need to be discarded in highly impacted areas and then also from other classrooms in the area to an extent.
• Paper [Student journals, classroom books, wall charts that students would be able to touch, and even laminated papers that may hold and odor overtime needed to be evaluated and potentially discarded.]
• Small toys such as Legos, math manipulative, etc… were also removed from classrooms.
• Other items were recommended to be discarded based on the ability to be fully mitigated for smell or due the fact that debris from the smoke may not be able to be completed removed.
• Crayons, markers, pencils were also discarded.
• It is also recommended that student water bottles and headphones were are to be removed.  
• Contact with families will be made and each family will be able to come pick personal items up to discard at home or clean reuse based on personal choice.
• Thursday and Friday were difficult days for our EC staff, as many items that had been created or personally purchased, over what I am sure is over 200 years of teaching experience, were thrown away.  I cannot express how hard this was!
• Inventories of items to be thrown away were required to assist in knowing our total loss and what purchases will be needed in the future.
• On Friday, staff members also began to look at our alternate areas in attempt to begin making it home to our students while it is necessary to be away.

Saturday, April 1 and future:

With all of that said, there is still work to do!  

• ServiceMaster will continue to clean classrooms.  This includes washing walls, carpets, and ceiling grids.
• Our ductwork will be cleaned over the weekend.
• The air quality of the impacted areas will be checked to help us determine when a safe return is allowed.
• The insulation on wrapped ductwork will be removed and replaced.

We hope this work will be completed in an efficient manner allowing for a return to classrooms, as soon as possible.

I end today by expressing my gratitude for our EC staff who are working diligently for a return to school through a tremendous amount of adversity.  They are doing a wonderful job!

Respectfully,

Mr. Darin Jones

Superintendent

AHSTW Community School District