The largest school district in SC, hit hard by Helene, reopens soon. Here’s what to know
South Carolina’s largest school district will reopen its 105 schools Wednesday after Helene forced a seven-day closure.
All but one Greenville County Schools facility had immediate power outages as the storm blew through on the morning of Sept. 24. One school, Greenville Middle, lacked power Tuesday, but service was expected to be restored before schools reopens.
Fourteen schools suffered some sort of damage, mostly leaky roofs and windows. A freezer canopy at Heritage Elementary and a shed near the softball field at Travelers Rest High were damaged. Trees fell, blocking access roads and car lines.
School superintendent Burke Royster told school board members during its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday that employees had been working since the storm left the area midday Friday to prepare for reopening.
He said he will ask the State Legislature to forgive the days missed. He anticipates they will.
Royster said in his 40-year career as an educator, he has seen only two other weather emergencies as severe — a massive ice and snow storm in the 1980s and Hurricane Hugo in 1989 that devastated Charleston and other coastal communities before heading west through central South Carolina.
He said all perishable food had to be thrown out but has been restocked. The district serves 85,000 meals a day. He expects FEMA to pay for the food loss.
He also said the district will be eligible for many other federal reimbursements for cleanup costs.
Two-person teams of district employees drove some 8,000 miles twice to assess damage and cleanup. Royster said initially they found 1,549 problem areas. The number had dropped to 1,074 a couple of days later.
Some 300 bus routes were rerouted and families were being called individually Tuesday to let them know where their children could get the bus.
No field trips will be held until Oct. 13 and school activities will end by 5:30 p.m. this week.
“Our concern is people traveling at night,” Royster said, noting many areas still have debris fields on roadways.