As the Greenwood Leflore Consolidated School District gears up for its first year come August, the physical condition of the district’s schools in both the city and the county will need to be addressed.
According to two reports — one by school district officials and another from a Leflore County grand jury inspection — numerous repairs are required.
“Efforts are being made at this time to begin working on some of the repairs during the months of June and July,” Dr. Mary Brown, the district’s superintendent, said by email. The city and county districts will merge July 1.
The grand jury visited the schools and submitted its report in March.
The jurors inspected Threadgill Primary, Threadgill Elementary, Bankston Elementary, Davis Elementary, Greenwood Middle School and Greenwood High School, all in the city district, and East Elementary, Leflore County Elementary, Claudine Brown Elementary, Amanda Elzy Junior High, Amanda Elzy High and Leflore County High, all in the county district.
At some schools, only minor repairs or upgrades are needed, such as a new intercom for Brown Elementary.
In other schools, the list is extensive, detailing dismal conditions for students and teachers.
Leaks from the roofs of auditoriums and/or gyms seem to be a pressing issue at Bankston, Leflore County Elementary and High schools and both of the Threadgill schools.
The grand jury report states that Leflore High’s auditorium “needs attention immediately,” saying that drainage and lighting are an issue and that flooded sidewalks are a problem.
Student restrooms are also in dilapidated shape, with hazards that might cause tripping presenting a problem at Bankston and missing
stall doors or doors that need to be replaced at Elzy’s junior high and high school.
Other problems that were listed include no heat or hot water at Threadgill Elementary, the presence of mold at Greenwood Middle School and Threadgill Elementary and ceiling tiles that need to be replaced at several schools.
In April, Brown and members of the Greenwood Leflore Consolidated School Board began touring the schools to assess the conditions and determine what repairs are needed. The board accepted the district’s repair list during a meeting in early May.
The district’s list covers all of the schools examined in the grand jury report plus the Leflore County Alternative School and the Greenwood Career and Technical Center.
The district’s report confirms deterioration and damage listed in the grand jury report while going into more detail for each of the schools.
The county’s alternative school had the least amount of dilapidation, with the most pressing concerns being several holes in the wall of the building.
At the city’s vocational school, major leaks are causing problems in the bathroom, kitchen, main hall and office. Lighting is also an issue, as well as the absence of air conditioning and heat at various locations.
Neither report presented cost estimates.
A facility condition assessment of the Greenwood schools conducted by Beard+Riser Architects was submitted to the city district in 2015. It estimated the maintenance needs for the district at the time as $16.1 million.
According to the Beard+Riser report, Davis Elementary was built in 1913 and Threadgill Primary (then still known as W.C. Williams Elementary) was built in 1935, making them the two oldest buildings in the district.
Those schools have heating and air-conditioning problems and need numerous other repairs, according to both reports.
Charles Johnson, the district’s assistant superintendent of organizational support and current director of federal programs for the Greenwood district, is leading the repair project.
On Friday, Johnson said he’s currently drafting a plan of action for repairs that will be presented to the school board at its Tuesday meeting.
Anjuan Brown, a Leflore County supervisor and assistant superintendent for the Carroll County School District, said poor conditions of school buildings can inhibit students’ education.
“A lot of those buildings, they’re old and need a lot of work. ... Some of them are just unrepairable,” Brown said, adding that the problem isn’t limited to Greenwood and Leflore County but the whole state.
“We want our children to be in the best possible situation. It’s amazing how a new environment can address a child’s behavior,” he said.
• Contact Gerard Edic at 581-7239 or gedic@gwcommonwealth.com.
