Leadership Matters June 2014

Students return to Proviso East High School two days after a fire caused damage and closed school.

Proviso administrators step up to handle the heat after fire

We then had to determine whether we would be able to open for classes on Monday. On Sunday, which was Mother’s Day, I surveyed the damage and assessed if we could still hold classes. That assessment led us to cancel classes for the next two days, with hopes of returning on the following Wednesday. We communicated this within an hour of the decision being made. In addition, we sent robocalls to parents informing of the decisions to close and later reopen school. During the next two days, we had workers from construction companies sealing off the damaged portion of the building while the building administrative team worked to determine where to hold the displaced classes. Eventually, a plan was developed, with classes moved to gymnasiums, our Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (NJROTC) building, and other locations around the Proviso East campus. Also, since our regular bus drop-off and pick-up point was in the damaged area, we moved our buses further down Madison Street to have the students enter and exit the campus through our football stadium gate. We also put in a claim with insurance for the repairs to get the building usable again. This quick reaction and subsequent work to move forward from what could have been a disastrous situation to one where we were able to successfully complete our school year would not have been possible without the work of the administration, faculty, and staff at Proviso East High School and in District 209 as a whole. I wish to thank them for their due diligence, and for a job well done.

By Dr. Nettie Collins-Hart Superintendent Proviso Township District 209 It was a call that school administrators fear getting. On Saturday, May 10, I received a call from the principal at Proviso East High

School at about 9:15 p.m. that the building was on fire. In what later was determined to be caused by an electrical issue, an office was on fire, sending smoke into the classrooms and science laboratories above it and the hallways and rooms underneath it as well as into the auditorium, where a play was in progress. While no one was hurt and the fire was brought under control within a couple of hours, there was substantial damage to about 45 classrooms, washrooms, and offices. The first order of business, after securing the building, was getting the word out to the Board of Education, parents, teachers, staff, and the community about what progress was being made on reopening the school, especially with many of them having seen the reports on the fire on the local news. Working with our community and public relations coordinator, Rob Daniel, we kept our district website (pths209.org) and our Twitter feed updated with regular reports in the hours immediately after the news first broke. We also responded to inquiries from area media, and sent out emails to teachers and staff with updates. In addition, I responded to emails from other superintendents who offered support and other assistance.

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