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Wednesday, January 25, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
It’s been a rough start
to winter for schools
By Steve Kadel
Correspondent
Heavy snowfall, icy roads,
concern over the ability of
roofs to hold up to a heavy
snow load — Sisters schools
have faced a perfect storm of
conditions that have made it
hard to get students to school
and into the classroom.
That has a significant
impact, not only to students’
education and experience at
school but also to the bot-
tom line (see related story,
page 1).
Sisters School District
officials canceled classes
Friday, January 13, to allow
time for a structural analy-
sis of school buildings and
the heavy snow load on
their roofs. Classes resumed
Tuesday after the Martin
Luther King Jr. Day holiday
on Monday — only to be
delayed on Wednesday due
to icy roads.
School Superintendent
Curtiss Scholl was unavail-
able to comment on Friday’s
closure and what steps the
district took to ensure that
roofs at the elementary, mid-
dle school and high school
are stable despite the deep
snow.
However, Brett Hudson,
who is project manager for
the District’s bond mea-
sure renovation, confirmed
that District representatives
spent part of Friday, January
13 inspecting the school
buildings. He declined to
elaborate.
The closure announcement
came after the collapse of a
Bend school’s gym roof due
to heavy snow last Thursday.
It prompted parents in Sisters
to wonder if the same thing
will happen here.
Kelly Davis Martin
emailed a letter of concern to
The Nugget on the day of the
Bend incident. She acknowl-
edged a message from Sisters
School District indicating
that engineers assessed local
schools and found them safe.
Her letter read, in part: “I
do believe that city, county
and disaster specialists are
saying the snow should be
removed from roofs for safety
under these circumstances. I
appreciate the engineers but
I do believe, for the safety of
our children, all roofs should
be cleared prior to kids being
in those buildings. There
are three confirmed school
roofs collapsed as of now in
Central Oregon. I am sure
the engineers said their roofs
were safe, too.”
Carlene Turpen, the
mother of two students, drove
to the Sisters School District
Administration office the
same day to get answers.
“As a parent, I am con-
cerned about the snow that’s
on (school roofs) and the rain
that is coming,” she told Mel
Petterson, Superintendent
Curtiss Scholl’s administra-
tive assistant.
Petterson received a flood
of calls earlier in the day
from other parents with the
same worries. She told every-
one that District administra-
tors were meeting to weigh
the risks.
“People need to be aware
we are working on it,”
Petterson said. “We are work-
ing on our plan. This weather
is so unusual. We are dealing
with it hour by hour.”
Earlier that day —
Thursday, January 12 — the
District released a message
from Scholl to parents, staff
and community members. It
acknowledged the safety con-
cerns about record-breaking
snow loads and the effect on
District facilities.
“BBT, a Bend engineer-
ing and architecture firm,
are working with us on our
upcoming bond projects and
have recently evaluated and
inspected all of our building
plans,” Scholl wrote.
He added that the decision
to hold classes before Friday
was based on BBT’s evalua-
tion and the District’s inspec-
tion of buildings.
“We will continue to con-
duct regular physical inspec-
tions and at any time we feel
it is unsafe for students and
staff we will cancel school
immediately,” the superin-
tendent wrote. “As always,
the safety of our students
and staff is our number one
priority.”
Sisters public school
classes were canceled
because of weather on six
days this winter prior to last
Friday’s closure.
CLOSURES: District
trying to avoid spring
break impact
Continued from page 1
The superintendent added
that classes likely will be
held on Presidents Day,
Monday, February 20, to cut
the needed makeup days to
four. Scholl said it’s about 95
percent certain that will hap-
pen, and he will send a notice
to families well in advance so
they can adjust their sched-
ules accordingly.
The District is trying to
avoid affecting spring break,
which runs from March 27
until April 7. That’s because
many parents, and teachers
alike, have made vacation
plans that would be difficult
to break.
“We have a student trip
going abroad with two teach-
ers, and they won’t even be
back if we schedule (classes)
over that time,” Scholl said.
He explained that while the
District schedule surpasses
PHOTO BY JIM CORNELIUS
Sisters Middle School staff — and the rest of the District — are hoping
there are no more snow closures this year.
what the State mandates, the
Sisters School District pol-
icy is what causes the need
for further makeup days.
“Oregon has one of the
shortest school years in the
nation,” Scholl said. “We
need to get our kids together
with teachers.”
He noted that Sisters isn’t
alone in wrestling with the
loss of class time this win-
ter, which has brought record
snowfall across the state.
“It’s not just isolated with
us,” he said, pointing to the
Eugene-Springfield district
that is looking at six or seven
makeup days.
Meanwhile, winter is far
from over and additional
snow closures could happen.
If that occurs, Scholl said, it
will only make the situation
worse and possibly require
lengthening the school year
next spring.
“We are hoping this is it,”
he said of snow closures for
2016-17.