The Carroll County School District is looking into how much it will cost to repair damage caused by the Nov. 1 storm to J. Z. George High School and Marshall Elementary. During the storm, J.Z. George took the biggest brunt of the hit, and Marshall received a small amount of damage.
Superintendent Billy Joe Ferguson said he spoke with the district’s insurance agent, and the estimated price tag is $25,000. Ferguson said the biggest thing the storm did was took the awning that connected the gym to the main building at J.Z. George.
“I got the call at 3:50 a.m. about the storm,” he said. “And my heart dropped because I thought about that new scoreboard we just replaced.”
He said a previous storm came through knocking down the school’s scoreboard. After the sun rose, Ferguson said he was able to check on the damage and was pleased to find the scoreboard still standing.
“That would have been devastating,” he said.
Ferguson said the cost figures are estimates, and he didn’t have numbers for board members at that time. He said he will get those numbers and present them at the next meeting where the board will take the next step to fix the damage.
He said the plan is to now extend the awning from the main building to the gym. He said the awning by the Tech Prep building also sustained damage and has to be replaced.
Students did not go to school the following day after the storm. He said staff reported to work at 9 a.m.
He said after speaking with Beat 4 Supervisor Claude Fluker of the damage, he said Fluker told him it wouldn’t be a good idea to run buses. The board voted to use Jan. 7 as a makeup day. Ferguson said the day was initially used for professional development will now be used as a makeup day.
