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Saturday, July 24, 2021 | The Newnan Times-Herald — 1C
l o o Sch Newnan High, Atkinson students back on tornadodamaged campuses Aug. 5 BY REBECCA LEFTWICH becky@newnan.com
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parking lot, also will be utilized. R egula r CEC cla sses, progra ms and schedules will not be impacted by the move , p a r tly b e c au s e the Coweta County School System has some experience with similar situations, Horton said. Ye a r s b efor e C E C b e c a me t he county’s charter College and Career A c a d e my, i t w a s C e n t r a l H i g h School, and Newnan High freshman attended classes there before moving on to the main LaGrange Street campus as sophomores. Earlier this month, the Coweta County Board of Education approved the addition of a second school resource officer at CEC to ensure adequate coverage, Horton said. A s of the Coweta County Board of Education meeting on July 13 the
n August – less than five months a f t e r a n E F4 t o r n a do c a t astrophically damaged Newnan High School – approximately 1,600 students in grades 10-12 will be able to return to the NHS campus for classes. The Coweta County School System has worked with engineers and construction crews to make necessary repairs to the ninth grade buildi n g a lon g w it h t he 70 0 a nd 9 0 0 building and to erect approximately 3 0 por table classrooms to provide space for the students to attend class. The three permanent buildings, all located near the center of the city block-sized campus, sustained mostly minor damage during the storm. “ We felt like (these three buildings) would give us the best possibility for in-person instruction,” Superintendent Evan Horton said in May. Combined with the portable units, the 60 or so classrooms in the three bu i ld i n g s w i l l pr ov ide a de qu at e i n s t r uc t ion a l s p a c e for t he h i g h school’s upperclassmen. The buildings have required roofing, H VAC and interior repair work, but otherwise are in “fairly good shape,” said Hor t on , who worke d w ith t e a m s th rou g hout the scho ol system to determine the best way to move forward for the 2021-22 school year. “Over the course of the first month (af ter the storm), it became clear that these three buildings seemed to fare better than some of the others,” he said. “Seeing the condition ... it started to seem like we had a pretty good chance of getting those buildings ready for in-person instruction to start the next school year.” The portable classrooms are being set up in two parking lots adjacent to the usable buildings, along with a temporary cafeteria and kitchen. Around 450 rising freshmen will attend the C entra l Educationa l C enter, where cla sses w ill be held in a mix of existing class- following update was provided for rooms and approximately Newnan High School repair work: 20 por table str uctures. Te m p o r a r y k i t c h e n • Reroofing on building 900 and cafeteria faciliis complete. tie s , wh ich w i l l b e lo c at e d i n • R ero of i n g h a s b eg u n on the CEC building 700. • R o o f i n g a nd t r i m wo r k on the ninth grade building is underway. • Reroofing on the main gym
PHOTO BY REBECCA LEFTWICH
is complete. • Work on parapet walls on building 700 is underway. • I n s t a l l at ion of t he ne w court floor and painting of the ceiling str ucture in the main gym are underway. • C e i l i n g r e p l a c e m e nt i n building 700, 900 and the new gym is proceeding. • Modular classrooms have been delivered to the NHS campus and assembly is complete. • Utility connections to modular classrooms is underway.
The det er m i n ation h a s b e en made that areas of the building requiring substantial repair will have to be brought up to the current building code.
Atkinson Elementary School Atkinson Elementary School, also severely damaged in the March 26 tornado, will resume normal operations Aug. 5 after completing the year at West Georgia Technical College’s Newnan Campus. The school, which houses approximately 380 students and 65 employees, has a brand-new roof. Moisture mitigation is complete, damaged ceiling tiles have been replaced and dam-
PHOTO BY JOE ADGIE
• Mo du l a r cl a s s r o om s for ninth grade students have been delivered to CEC and assembly should be completed by July 24. • Insurance company structura l engineers have submitted their supplemental report of damages for all buildings at Newnan High School. • Southern A&E has reviewed these reports and met with City of Newnan building of f icials.
aged sheetrock has been repaired and painted. Walkway canopies are expected to be repaired or replaced by the start of school, a nd clea nup of dow ned trees and other debris is underway. The school system’s transportation center on Smokey Road also took a hit from the tornado, and insurance adjusters are assessing damage to rooftop fan units, fencing and vehicles. School officials say they do not expect student transportation to be affected.
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