York School Board to Consider Leasing Temporary Classrooms at Dare

By Amber Lester Kennedy Saturday, October 01, 2011

The York County School Board will consider leasing an eight-classroom unit for Dare Elementary School at a Monday meeting.

In a letter to parents released Friday, York County Schools Chief of Operations Carl James said the administration is recommending the School Board approve a contract to lease an eight-classroom portable unit. The unit is currently located in North Carolina, and the process to move it and connect it to electricity, water and sewage lines, fire alarms and network systems could take six to eight weeks.

Beginning Monday, laptop computers will be set up along the back wall of the Dare Elementary gym to improve student access to technology. The division is also planning to hire two additional para-educators to provide extra staff support.

Event tents pitched behind the Extend Center will be adjusted to have outdoor heaters, so students can continue to eat outside or have gym class as temperatures begin to drop.

At Monday’s school board meeting, one mother criticized the bus delays that have had her son arriving home after an hour-and-a-half bus ride. In response, the school division has added another bus for Dare’s fourth and fifth grade students who are attending school at Bethel Manor Elementary. Additionally, the Sheriff’s Department has agreed to provide assistance with traffic control to reduce the amount of time it takes for buses to depart Bethel Manor onto Big Bethel Road. That assistance will begin early next week.

Dare’s students were displaced from their classrooms when the school suffered water and wind damage from Hurricane Irene. The school, which was undergoing renovations already behind schedule, was not secured by contractor American Veteran Construction. Since then, K-3 students have been attending classes in makeshift classrooms in the gym, fourth and fifth grade students have attended Bethel Manor, students in the Primary Enrichment Program are going to Mt. Vernon Elementary and the EXTEND Center is temporarily housed at Coventry Elementary.

Earlier this month, the division asked Marine Chemist, an environmental testing and inspection laboratory, to compile a remediation report to determine what steps must be taken to address the water damage. Soon after, the contractor hired a different company to conduct an assessment. The contractor has told York County Schools that they will receive their final remediation plan this week. York County has requested that they submit a schedule of completion, with a timeline, by Monday.

“We expect that the contractor will use all available resources, including the hiring of additional manpower and subcontractors as may be necessary, to complete this project in an expeditious manner,” James wrote. “Please be assured that the division is exploring all available avenues at our disposal to ensure completion of the construction project at DES as soon as possible.”

The division is posting updates about Dare here. The York School Board will consider approving the leasing of the classroom unit for $256,598 at its meeting at 6 p.m. Monday at the School Board Office Conference Room.