It has been almost a year and a half after remnants of Tropical Storm Fred took aim at so many parts of the mountains. It flooded homes, businesses and even a high school sitting in the flood plain in Haywood County. FEMA finally delivered some relief money to the school district. Now, it’s up to school leaders to decide what to do with it.
With $500,000 now coming to Haywood County from FEMA, school leaders will have to decide how to spend it: renovate the existing Central Haywood High School with a lot of flood mitigation measures, or permanently relocate the school to another location. The half million from FEMA is the final total.
“They informed us this was the total amount and not to expect any additional funding,” says Superintendent Dr. Trevor Putnam.
He says if renovating Central Haywood High School in Clyde is the decision, FEMA says to do it with flood prevention measures.
“Pouring the crawl space underneath solid, in concrete, adding water-tight or waterproof doors and windows, adding terrazzo floors rather than wood flooring,” explains Putnam.
He says estimates to do all that would cost twice the amount from FEMA. But building a new Central Haywood High some place out of the flood plain would be even more expensive.
Still, it’s in discussion.
“Explore all possible land opportunities, seeing what the cost of those might be, exploring construction costs," Dr. Putnam describes what's up for discussion. "Obviously, our hope is to relocate so that we no longer have to endure flood events We obviously do not want to exhaust all our funds in a relocation, so we're seeking other funding sources beyond insurance and FEMA."
He says school leaders will be deliberate in deciding.
In the meantime, Central Haywood High students are housed in the old Central Elementary School in Waynesville, that closed as an elementary in 2016 with low enrollment.
“We're happy to have to have a home and a place for students to have classes, a cafeteria and a gym," says Central Haywood High School Principal Wendy Rogers. "We're not in a rush to go anywhere. So, I'm thankful the district is taking their time."
“Once we have a plan that we feel confident in, we’ll move forward,” says Putnam.
He says the ultimate decision is up the school board.