Students to return Monday

Junior high and high school students will return to school Monday.

Jay School Corporation early Friday afternoon announced that Jay County Junior-Senior High School will return to in-person learning Monday after a week away from the building that was damaged in the Sunday evening tornado.

“We look forward to getting them back,” said Jay Schools superintendent Jeremy Gulley. “I think they’re ready to be back.”

“Kids learn best in a school,” he added. “Remote learning, for a week, has been, well, very helpful. Otherwise we would have had nothing. We have kept kids engaged live with their teacher.”

But, he added, parents prefer their kids to be in a traditional learning environment.

“They want their kids in school, seeing real people, interacting with kids for social support, mental support,” Gulley said. “It’s just healthier all the way around to be among their peers and with human interaction. And that’s why we want to get them back, and we are.”

Additional information about the return to school, including the altered bus drop-off pattern as clean-up crews continue to occupy some of the east parking lot, were to be shared with parents via email.

All Jay Schools were closed Monday, with kindergarten through sixth graders returning to regular sessions Tuesday. Junior-senior high students had an e-learning day Tuesday and were on remote learning Wednesday through Friday.

The key factor for being able to return to the building was getting the heating, ventilation and cooling (HVAC) system up and running. Air handling units were displaced atop the junior high portion of the structure during the tornado. The system throughout the building was affected.

Gulley said Friday afternoon the system is functioning properly.

“It’s going to take a few days to get the humidity drawn out of the air,” said Gulley.

He noted that the school corporation hired an HVAC specialist — Abe Boggs — within the last couple of years.

“And that’s turned out to be a good thing,” he added.

Boggs will continue to monitor the systems this weekend.

Gulley also reported that officials from Indiana Department of Homeland Security and the State Fire Marshal's Office visited the school to ensure its safety. The school’s fire detection and suppression systems are functioning.

“We got the thumbs up,” said Gulley.

Junior-senior high administrators and staff have worked this week to develop a plan for how to house students and teachers who previously had classes in the junior high area of the building. (That section and the IMC have been sealed off from the rest of the facility.) 

Principal Chad Dodd explained Friday afternoon that administrators worked to find classroom space for 17 teachers who were displaced. That includes splitting the choir room and rifle range into two classrooms each by using accordian-style dividers, shifting some classes to other available space (agriculture to the greenhouse, for example), co-teacher and utilizing rooms where teachers are on prep periods.

Dodd noted the goal of making sure students were in classrooms being instructed by their teachers.

“I work with a great group of people,” he said. “Our admin team, man, they got after it.”

“It took a lot of people to get this done,” he added, thanking all staff members who have been involved. “It took a lot of hours. … It’s a major lift. It’s just a lot of great people doing a lot of good work.”

Gulley said the plan looks good. He also emphasized that there should be patience in the process.

“In this first week back, I told the school, ‘Just get through day one. And take your time,’” he said.

He also noted that the school will hold a tornado drill and a fire drill on the first day back to ensure that students who are in new locations know where to go if such a situation occurs.

Looking at the long term, Gulley said he is awaiting written approval to bring in mobile classrooms.

“In the first five days since this tornado hit on Sunday evening it’s been day-to-day,” he said. “Now what I’d like to be in is a week-to-week. And then eventually a month-to-month.”

“Our end goal is to have the junior high and IMC back to us August 2025,” he added.

An EF-1 tornado on the Enhanced Fujita Scale — it had winds up to 110 miles per hour — hit the southeast corner of the school at 7:47 p.m. Sunday. It caused damage to the roof and HVAC system at the school, ripped most of the roof off of a house on the opposite side of Indiana 67 and took the roof off of the second level of the American Legion Post at 211 W. Walnut St., Portland. A damage assessment showed 88 structures impacted, with four of those sustaining major damage. (See related story.)

Weather conditions continued to affect school activities Friday, as the homecoming parade was canceled because of high winds in the forecast. (Gusts of up to 45 miles per hour were expected with consistent winds at 20 miles per hour.) Student activities after the homecoming football game that were planned to be held outdoors were moved into the school’s auxiliary gym.