Good afternoon! I know many of you are working through damage and power outages from last night’s storm. My thoughts are with those who have damage to their property, and I hope that your families are safe. I intended to send a back to school message today, but with the storm, I wanted to give you a couple of quick updates instead (I will send my back to school message next week!):
All school buildings, except Delta Center, are currently without power. That means that we can’t print schedules or class lists, which many of the buildings planned on doing today. Buildings will communicate plans next week to get information to you about any next steps that were interrupted by the aftermath of the storm.
Because of the power outage, the office staffs are working from home because the buildings are dark. So, if you need to get a hold of your school today, email is going to be the best way.
The areas around the schools in town, GLHS, Beagle, Holbrook, and Neff, are a mess, and many of the streets are closed with down trees and power lines. In addition, typical routes to Wacousta, Hayes, and Willow Ridge are blocked, too. We have trees down and damage at some of our buildings, and our teams have been hard at work since late last night in the clean up efforts. A special thank you goes out to our maintenance and grounds teams for their efforts over the last 12-18 hours.
At this time, we see no reason that this storm will have any impact on the first day of school. Despite the tree damage and other minor issues in some of the buildings, our facilities are in good shape.
The Barry Eaton Heath Department has asked that we remind you that there is a link on the BEHD home page to report storm damage. According to the health department, “The Eaton County Self Reporting Damage page is expected to be used for the purpose of managing, documenting or monitoring emergency responses and activities. The submitted information is also invaluable in determining how and to what extent an emergency situation is affecting real people.”
Please be safe and cautious if you have to drive today, and be prepared for long lines at traffic lights and rerouted traffic. I look forward to communicating again early next week, and seeing your students on Wednesday. Take care of yourself, your families, and your neighbors. As always, I am #proudtobeacomet!
Dr. Bill Barnes
Superintendent of Schools
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