Design not a factor in Pleasant Grove school portico collapse, superintendent says

Published: Tuesday, December 07, 2010, 10:45 PM

The collapse of a portico at Pleasant Grove Elementary School on Monday morning after an ice cream truck crashed into it was a fluke accident and had nothing to do with any flaws in the design of the structure, said Jefferson County school Superintendent Phil Hammonds.

The debris is being cleaned up and the awning will be rebuilt in the new year, he said.

"I don't think it's inherent with the building. It just was an accident," Hammonds said today. "The driver somehow just misjudged, but when he hit it, it just crumbled."

A Blue Bell ice cream delivery truck struck the portico column at the school around 7:30 a.m., just after a busload of students had arrived and entered the building.

The portico was at the side of the building where school buses load and unload students. A fifth-grade class waiting to go on a field trip Monday morning was nearby, but fortunately was waiting inside because of the weather, Hammonds said.

"The cold weather prevented students from hanging out, and we're very thankful and fortunate for that," Hammonds said. "The accident just involved brick and mortar, and that can be replaced."

Rafael McDaniel, director of new construction for Jefferson County schools, said the district is working with the truck driver's insurance company to pay for the repairs. The cost is not yet known, he said.

In the meantime, traffic in and out of the school has been rerouted.

Pleasant Grove Elementary School was built in 1988, and 14 classrooms were added in 2002. The portico was part of the original structure.

McDaniel said that portico design isn't used anymore because it's expensive. However, he said, "that design is actually more sturdy than the ones used now."

"They are pretty structurally sound, but you take a 4-ton truck, and 'bam,' it's going to collapse," he said. "The downside is one of those bricks could have killed a child, and we're very, very fortunate that it didn't."

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Shelby County School Board requested a commission special election on the extension of the tax

Published: Monday, October 25, 2010, 9 H 25 updated: Monday, October 25, 2010, 9: 26

Shelby County Commission was invited to call a special election on the extension of a tax 30 schools mill that has defined item to expire in 2017.

County School Board asked that an election is set for 8 February 2011.

Tonight, Shelby County School Superintendent Randy Fuller has applied an election to the Board on behalf of the Commission scolaire.

"We not asking for an increase in taxes," said Fuller, who recommended that the application of the school board election.

30 Plants means that a person who possesses a $100,000 House pays $300 in annual property taxes that go to the school system, which does not change, he said.

If the commission agreed set an election, County School Board would ask voters to expand 30 plants in school property taxes year 2041.

Commission comtée vote at the request of the school system to an election in its meeting of 8 November.

Fuller told Commissioners "" this decision is one of the most important in the history of our school system.""

"Without renewal, we cannot build any new schools or to make additions or renovation plans to our existing schools," he said in a prepared statement."By organizing a special election, we will ask the Shelby County residents make an investment of 30 years so that we can maintain the high level of education that we all came to expect lekeage include our ability to finance essential capital improvement projects in some of our higher growth areas."

Bond companies will not that the school system to any new links with school taxes expire in six years, says Fuller.

He said Commissioners school system increased by 8,000 students in the last décennie.Le system is expected to add a further 3,000 students over the next six years, he said.

Calera, Chelsea, Helena and alabaster are areas of growth in the county where the system looks to build new schools or add additional classroom tax should be extended, Fuller said.

The system would also make "improvements and upgrades" in schools in other areas in the County, he said.

Fuller said money generated by the tax is used to pay for music, art teachers and other courses as well as the conseillers.Il serves also to pay for other things such as utilities and repay the obligations taken by the system during the years, he has dit.La tax of 30-factory generates 75 million per year for the school system, which is 28% of the budget of the school system.

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