HENRYVILLE — Henryville students may return to their school a month earlier than originally anticipated, just in time for the beginning of the next school year.

John Reed, assistant superintendent for West Clark Community Schools, said the school is expected to open Aug. 1. He said Belfor, the company rebuilding the school, is making a lot of progress on the project.

“It’s huge because we approved our calendar and our teachers come back on Aug. 6, then kids are back Aug. 7,” Reed said. “If it weren’t ready until Sept. 1, then we’re talking about sending those kids to Scottsburg and Graceland until then.”

The school was heavily damaged by March 2 tornadoes — one an E4-4 packing winds of about 170 mph. Elementary-school students were sent to Graceland Baptist Church in New Albany; Middle- and high-school students are attending school in temporary classrooms at Mid-America Science Park in Scottsburg.



CONSTRUCTION QUIRKS

Kevin Barnes, a project manager with Belfor, said several parts of the school were salvageable, but others needed a complete rebuild.

He said though trucks are leaving the campus, that just means they’re getting ready to install large pieces of structural steel, not that they’re leaving town.

“We’ve been very happy with the progress so far,” Barnes said. “We see no problem meeting the deadline and we’ve been very fortunate to have some of the partnerships we’ve got with some of the local contractors in Southern Indiana and Kentucky.”

Workers are replacing roofing and working on other structural components in parts of the building that are in better shape, he said, but the harder hit areas are getting prepared for the installation of new structural steel. He said the number of workers on site fluctuates depending on what kind of work they’re doing, but on average, about 150 people are working to rebuild the school.

He also said Belfor has also had contractors at the school for night shifts to do work.



ATTENTION TO DETAILS

Reed said he’s amazed that the district’s board is already picking carpet and paint colors for the school. He said Belfor isn’t approaching the project in phases, but doing what work they can depending on the condition of each space.

“On Thursday, the board made decisions on what color the paint was going to be and the color of the carpet,” Reed said. “To hear them dealing with that right now, that tells me they’re not messing around.”

Glenn Riggs, principal of Henryville Elementary School, said he and his staff are thankful for having somewhere to conduct classes, but they’ll be glad to be back to familiar territory.

“We’re in a wonderful location,” Riggs said. “Graceland has been very gracious with us, but we are pretty much elbow-to-elbow in terms of the physical space.”

He said he thinks students will also appreciate starting back in a place they’re used to seeing.

But he said there won’t be a lot of time to get everything together in classrooms. With only five days from opening until teachers return, he said they’ll have a lot of work to do.

“It’s going to be a challenge just like the reverse process was, being removed and getting set up again,” Riggs said. “It’s gong to require the kind of diligence we just went through five or six weeks ago starting school in an unknown location.”

Reed said the school won’t change much, but the district has to meet new building codes and still spend only what they get from their insurance company.

He said donations have alleviated part of that issue. With textbooks, security cameras and other components donated, he said coming up with a zero balance on the project shouldn’t be too difficult.

“It’s been unbelievable,” Reed said. “I don’t even know where to start. I haven’t figured out how to thank everybody yet.”

Troy Albert, principal at Henryville High School, said students and staff are looking forward to going back home.

“I think the first day will be a celebration just like it was the first day we had at Scottsburg,” Albert said. “After that, I think we’ll get down to business and have a good school year. That’s my vision, and I’ll do everything I can to help that happen.”

Riggs said he thinks students are still affected by seeing their community torn apart, but they’re keeping their chins up and getting back home will help them adjust back to normal.

“I think it’ll be a relief for them,” Riggs said. “They’re seeing the old school every day as they ride their bus down to Graceland. I think there’s probably some heart pangs in terms of where they’re going. They come in pretty happy in terms of how the day goes, but I think there will be a lot of joy when they get back home.”