Continuing Observations On The District: The Good, The Better And The What The Heck
“…they stopped a moment, as most of us do, in front of the memorial fountain honouring the boys from Lakewood High who lost their lives in the First World War. Flanked by the flags of school and country and lighted to bring out the colouring of the ceramic murals around the bronze plaque…” (Picture and description from the 1945 LHS yearbook.)
The Good
What if the storm on August 6th happened when school was in session?
What follows are the questions I asked the district through Christine Gordillo; Communications & PR Coordinator unedited. Thank you, Chris!
Q: If the storm had hit near release time what actions would the district have taken during and then after?
A: We would follow our district protocols for tornado warnings and have staff and students take their places in the safe locations they have practiced going to during the state-required tornado drills each school building holds multiple times a year. A districtwide communication would alert all families that all students are safe and that dismissal has been delayed due to severe weather and that parents will be notified when they are able to pick up their student or when older students are released.
Q: The storm disabled not just electrical power but also cell towers rendering cell phones useless, possibly also disabling the repeater that the district uses for radios. Does the district have other ways to communicate to buildings and to the public? Or are the building staff given permission to take things into their own hands?
A: The LHS two-way radio repeater is powered through an electrical circuit that is supported by the LHS emergency generator. Two-way radios are a viable means of communicating in such a power outage. Building staff would need to ensure radios are charged through an electrical circuit supported by the building’s emergency generator, if outfitted with a generator.
Q: As the days moved on without power and considering the start of school, were the maintenance/custodial/secretarial and other classified staff required to be at work? Without communications or power, what type of work could be completed? Did all the buildings have generators and were they all working?
A: Only maintenance and custodial staff were required to be at work on the days when no buildings had power. As two buildings regained power, Central Office staff and building secretaries were dispersed to Hayes and Roosevelt to resume their work responsibilities on Friday, August 9. Hayes was not impacted by the power outage and remained on utility power. The following buildings had operable emergency generators running: LHS, Harding, Garfield, Emerson, Grant, Harrison, Hayes, Horace Mann, Lincoln, Roosevelt and Taft. The LHS generator dropped out early in the evening of 8/7/24. Cummins, who provides LCSD the routine maintenance on district emergency generators, was called out to assess and got the generator back operating. FSO and Coutant are not outfitted with emergency generators.
Q: What did the administration at central office do to assist the staff in the buildings?
A: From Maggie (Superintendent Niedzwiecki) We worked on prioritizing what needed to get accomplished and what jobs could wait until after school got started. For example, we needed to get mailers out, but if we needed to push waxing the floors until Labor Day weekend, we would.
Q: Who was “boots on the ground” as my cousin would say, directing all the needs for the district and community?
A: The Manager of Operations (Ed Deblock) used Hayes as a home base to coordinate property clean-up efforts and other operational needs from the maintenance & custodial staff.
Q: There were still summer programs in the buildings during that week, who had the authority to either hold or cancel the programs?
A: Leslie Krogman, Rec Department coordinator
Q: As the power and cell phones remained out the mayor announced that some of our buildings were open. Who at the district facilitates this?
A: Our Operations Department, after approval by the Superintendent.
Q: Did any of the district properties experience damage from the storm and if so, who is responsible for directing clean-up and repair?
A: All properties had tree debris that needed to be cleared and was coordinated by the Manager of Operations. Garfield lost a few asphalt roof shingles. The Manager of Operations is coordinating repair.
The Better
Fall in Lakewood is packed with athletic events. Not just football. Lakewoodrangerathlectics.com is the place to find all the excitement for the season. The music program (lakewoodmusicboosters.com) shines with The Lakewood Ranger Marching Band and many other events. Be sure to check out these websites as there are always so many ways to become active members or volunteers.
What the heck? A reminder for our community booster programs and extracurricular programs that policy 7510 dictates the priority for use of all school facilities is still an active board policy. As far as I know, no one involved in scheduling the buildings is new this year so things should go smoothly. Policy 7510: “In order to assure a close relationship between the Board of Education and the Lakewood community, it shall be the policy of the Board to grant and encourage maximum use of schools facilities as provided by law…Such use shall not interfere with the regular education programs.” Policy 7510 mandates in detail the usage and priorities of all district properties. “Category 1: Lakewood Student Groups, Category 2: Lakewood School Support Entities, Category 3: Lakewood Public Nonprofit Groups Category 4: Lakewood Private Nonprofit Groups and Category 5: Commercial Users/Non-Resident Groups.”
Fall in Lakewood is packed with athletic events. Not just football. Lakewoodrangerathlectics.com is the place to find all the excitement for the season. The music program (lakewoodmusicboosters.com) shines with The Lakewood Ranger Marching Band and many other events. Be sure to check out these websites as there are always so many ways to become active members or volunteers.
As promised from last time here is a picture from the 1945 yearbook of the original Peace Fountain. The plaque in the middle honours the LHS alumni killed in battle during The Great War.