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Smithville Elementary deemed safe to re-enter
Engineers pronounce structure to be sound
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WILLOUGHBY - photo by Photo by Reed Vanderpool
In a short meeting of the DeKalb County Board of Education last Thursday evening, presided over by Vice Chairman Kenny Rhody in the absence board Charles Robinson, Director of Schools Mark Willoughby reported that the Smithville Elementary School building has been thoroughly inspected by structural engineers, and found to be safe for the public to enter after the recent storm damage to the structure."A structural engineer has said we can go back into the building,” Willoughby told the assembly. “Mr Bill Tanner will be getting the word out to everybody about when they can come back and pick up report cards, but as far as the safety of the building and going back in, its safe.“The roof damage was the main thing that we had,” Willoughby continued, “Unless there is something unforeseen, we will be able to open that school by our opening date." Concerning updates to the science lab at the DCHS, Willoughby said "Our maintenance crew has worked really hard on getting that room ready for new equipment to come in.“There's about a six-week lead time for all the furniture, lab tables, and things like that to come in,” he went on, “but there's a lot of work that must be done before that, and this work is being done now.“We can get all that on a state bid and not have to bid that out.