From the Superintendent's Desk
March 2009
Dear Kyrene Parents and Guardians
Many of you probably already know that at about 3:00 am Monday, March 16, the roof of the multi-purpose room at Waggoner Elementary in Tempe, collapsed. This in turn caused water lines to be broken which resulted in some flooding of hallways and classrooms in that area of the building. Officials from the fire department, the City of Tempe and the Kyrene School District were on the scene almost immediately to assess the situation and determine what action to take. School was cancelled at Waggoner for Monday, March 16th, and the school re-opened on Tuesday.
While regular inspections are conducted at all sites by Kyrene School District personnel, I have directed the following additional actions:
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Gervasio and Associates (Consulting Engineers) are cooperating with the City of Tempe to conduct a full investigation to determine the cause of the collapse.
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Kyrene staff members are fully cooperating with the City of Tempe to ensure the necessary documentation, inspections and processes are followed at the Waggoner site.
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The Maricopa County Environmental Services Division has inspected the Waggoner facility and is satisfied with the health and safety of the campus.
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Kyrene will expeditiously make arrangements to have all facilities throughout the entire school district inspected by outside experts to ensure they are safe.
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The Governing Board will hold a special study session from 5:00-7:00 pm on Tuesday, March 24, to talk with experts and staff members about this incident and any additional information available.
I met and shared information with the Parent Superintendent Council at our regularly scheduled meeting yesterday, and met with the Parent Teacher Organization at Waggoner today. While this event is devastating, we are very grateful that it occurred when no one was in the building. It is my intention to see to it that the public has all of the available information about this incident and the additional steps that are being taken to prevent anything like this from happening.
Information is available on the Kyrene website, www.kyrene.org, where the community can access the latest and most accurate facts.
David K. Schauer, Ed.D.
Superintendent
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