Storm Repairs Underway at Tigrett Middle School
JACKSON, Tenn. – Construction crews started repairing storm damage at I.B. Tigrett Middle School in Jackson this week. Large fans dried out classrooms inside the school, Tuesday. “In most of the rooms down this hall you had anywhere from two to three inches of water,” said Stan Parker, Director of Operations for Jackson-Madison County Schools. Thursday‘s storms peeled a portion of the roof off the building. Water seeped in soaking textbooks, the floor, and equipment. “In one wing of the building, about 9 rooms were damaged,” said Parker. The district cancelled summer school classes Friday and decided to have students finish out the session at Northeast Middle School. “It was evident that we weren’t going to be able to use that building,” said Superintendent Buddy White. Crews installed a temporary roof, but White expects a permanent fix to take several weeks. “We’ll also go in with dehumidifiers so that we know that that building’s good and dry,” he said. “We‘ll run the air conditioning even though we don‘t typically do that during the summer.” Parker expects the repairs to cost thousands of dollars. “Right now, a rough estimate, we’re looking in the $300,000 range to get it completely redone,” he said. District officials expect insurance to cover a good portion of the cost. White says the school will be ready for students when the regular school year begins in August. This is the second time a storm hit Tigrett Middle School. In April 2011, strong winds seriously damaged the school‘s roof.
