During a large storm in late June of 2024, a tree fell outside of the Norrix A-wing, hitting classroom A-12 and damaging the roof.
Problems like what happened to the roof are not necessarily infrequent. For example, twice this January, the B-Wing has been subject to damages that have needed to be addressed immediately such as on Tuesday, Jan. 7, when a fire broke out in B14’s storage room which resulted in a shattered window from heat and panic among students, parents and teachers alike.
“It was a little strange because the fire alarm went off and then we walked out and there was a wall of fire right there,” said biology teacher and B-14 occupant Lynn Bumstead.
Additionally, on Thursday, Jan. 22, the B-Wing experienced minor flooding, which forced students and staff to move to different classrooms for the first half of the day.
Whenever damage such as this occurs within the Kalamazoo Public Schools, KPS, school district, the KPS facilities department is contacted to handle all repair and maintenance needed within the building. On the day following the A-wing damage of the fallen tree, when school staff arrived, the facilities department was already at the building assessing damages, contracting freelance workers to put temporary fixes up and dealing with the school district’s insurance to compensate for the damage.
“There was some water that would get in from that crack, but everything was still functional. The electricity worked, the air conditioning worked,” said art teacher and A-12 occupant Gregory Stevens.
A similar process ensued for the damage in the B-wing, after the fire adjacent to B-14.
“Building maintenance just kind of did a general clean up,” Bumstead continued. “They contracted it with the company that works with KPS. Their communication was pretty good.”
Despite the efficiency of repairs, the school district only has access to a certain amount of construction workers at any given moment. It also takes a significant amount of effort to keep just one school building running, without even factoring in the other 26 buildings in the district.
“The school district has to prioritize things like fixing other damage,” said Principal Christopher Aguinaga. “Right now, they’re renovating South Westnedge School, so that takes a lot of construction workers we would typically use, and then also just ongoing maintenance of the 27 different buildings that are in the school district.”
Although Loy Norrix has and will continue to experience malfunctions and damages, the KPS Facilities Department exists to combat those failures and make sure student learning remains uninterrupted.
