We want to provide you with an update on the first day of school and our plans to open our schools. Our custodial, maintenance, mechanic, and administrative teams met this morning to assess the safety of our buildings and access to resources. This is what we have found:
- All schools are currently without power except Portage High School.
- Several of our buildings have sustained damage. There are uprooted trees and roof damage across the district, which has created unsafe conditions.
- Due to the power outages, we are experiencing a loss of food at our schools. We will replace it and are working with our suppliers to schedule replacement deliveries as soon as possible.
- We are communicating with city and township officials. At this time, they are advising that recovery from the storm damage is ongoing. Many roads are unsafe, and sidewalks are littered with debris and wires.
Due to these factors, all of Portage Township Schools will remain closed for the remainder of this week, Thursday, August 13, and Friday, August 14. We will continue communicating with the city and township as we all move forward with cleanup efforts. We intend to provide you with an update at the end of the week regarding the status of school for next week. In order to host school next week, we will need power restored to our buildings, safe conditions in and around our buildings, food replaced to be able to provide breakfast and lunch, and safe driving and walking conditions across the city and township.
We would like to thank our crews who are working on building assessments, cleanup efforts, and planning for our new first day of school. This is an unprecedented event for Portage, and it is certainly not how we anticipated beginning this school year. However, we know the resiliency of our community will shine through. Now is the time to show our strength and come together as one Portage.
We will provide you with our next update at the end of the week. Until then, stay safe.