The Trustees for School District 57 had received another detailed report on the condition of the school, and the news is not good. The bottom line is that the school is not considered safe under current standards. The report also indicates the building is beyond repair and should not be used to house students for another year. 

While air quality testing indicates there are no health concerns about keeping the school open for the balance of this year. The engineer’s report also looked at fungal growth and while it seems to be contained to the crawlspace,  efforts to clean up that crawlspace would be futile as the wood sill plates are rotting and cannot be removed.

With that information in hand, Trustees made it clear that closing Giscome School is not a decision they take lightly.

Trustee Valentine Crawford says while there is part of him that says he would like to see the school open for another year, it’s the “what ifs” that have him troubled, what if the roof collapsed under a heavy snow load? What if the floor gave way and a child dies? “I don’t think I could live with myself”.

“When engineers tell you a structure is not safe, it is very hard to ignore that information” says Trustee Lois Boone. She agrees with the parents and residents who don’t want their children bussed to Blackburn “I am confident we can make a case for a new school. I will go on record right now saying I wil not support any plan that would require children to be bussed to Blackburn.”

Trustee Sharil Warrington said she too cares about rural schooling, “There are a number of recommendations in the engineer’s report that we as Trustees cannot ignore.” She does not support the transportation of students for long periods of time “We know that negatively impacts learning.  We’re here to ensure your children get the best educational opportunities that we can provide.”

Chair Lynn Hall says he doesn’t want to consider bussing, so that means he wants to look at portables.

So with bussing off the list of options, the next idea might be to use a civic facility and some portables until a new school could be built.

Superintendant Brian Pepper says preliminary estimates on site preparation and two small portables would range between $352,000 and $430,000. If the number of portables is to match the full school, then the estimate would be in the $585,000 to $633,000.

The Giscome school currently costs the District about $200 thousand a year to run.

Chair Lynn Hall says if all the people who said they could offer some work, there is an opportunity for the District to do something completely different “My concern is timeline, We’re talking tonight about having something in place in a short period of time, I heard your commitment, so now its time to stand tall and tell us what you think you can do.”

Discussions will take place with the community over the next five weeks to identify suitable options.