South Hi Mount Elementary staff, students relocating after engineering concerns found
Students at Fort Worth school moved to a new campus
A Fort Worth school temporarily relocated its students and staff to another campus for the rest of the year. The entire South Hi Mount Elementary School was cleared out because the 90-year-old campus is in dire need of repairs.
FORT WORTH, Texas - South Hi Mount Elementary students and staff will temporarily relocate to a vacant Fort Worth campus after an on-site engineering assessment raised concern about their current building.
What we know:
District officials relocated students and staff at South Hi Mount Elementary as a precautionary measure, clearing the impacted section of the building, according to a message sent to families.
On Tuesday, engineers observed cracks inside the building that indicated movement on the school's north-east end. Fort Worth ISD says students and staff in the affected area were moved on Wednesday, and the decision to relocate the entire school's population was made on Friday.
South Hi Mount Elementary was built in 1936.
The district decided to move the entire school to the vacant Western Hills Primary building at 8300 Mojave Trail in Fort Worth, which stands around 10 minutes west of South Hi Mount Elementary.
Principal Dr. Elizabeth Foreman White said the new location provides the available space needed for the elementary school.
What's next:
To facilitate the move, the district adjusted the school calendar.
Officials added two student holidays to allow teachers and staff time to pack, move and prepare classrooms at the temporary location.
The updated schedule includes:
- Friday, Nov. 20: Student holiday
- Monday, Nov. 30: Student holiday
- Tuesday, Dec. 1: Students return to classes at the Western Hills Primary building
Students and staff will be temporarily relocated inside the South Hi Mount Elementary building until the entire building's population moves to the new campus after Thanksgiving break.
What they're saying:
"I understand this news may bring questions and concerns, and I want to reassure you that our focus remains on providing students with a consistent, welcoming, and engaging learning experience throughout this transition," White said in the message to parents.
"I know, 5 miles away roughly. It is inconvenient. We know it is. We understand that, but this seems to be years in the making," Fort Worth ISD Superintendent Dr. Peter Licata tells FOX 4's Dionne Anglin.
"We are very, very fortunate and very thankful to our maintenance staff for catching this, seeing that there were some cracks in the walls underneath the building. Therefore, an engineering firm went underneath and looked at it. So it's been shored up, it's being held up, but that's not where the kids and staff walk back-and-forth."
What you can do:
The school will host a parent meeting to address concerns and answer questions. The meeting is on Monday, Nov. 9, at 5:30 p.m. inside the South Hi Mount Elementary cafeteria.
The Source: The information in this article comes from a message shared with families by Fort Worth ISD and South Hi Mount Elementary Principal Dr. Elizabeth Foreman White.