It has been three weeks since one of the schools in Aniak was abruptly closed due to structural concerns in the gymnasium. Now, the Kuspuk School District says it has prepared for a possible collapse of the gym room at its junior and senior high school.
During a meeting Wednesday at the Aniak Community Hall, district administrators told families that the community hall would be the designated evacuation point if the gym roof does collapse.
The gym was closed in early January after people reported that it was actively cracking open and that the majority of the wooden supporting joists had snapped, according to superintendent Madeline Aguillard.
In mid-January, Aguillard said that a structural engineer recommended that the gym be demolished and said that it was unsafe to occupy the junior and senior high school altogether. The roughly 50 displaced students are now taking classes in the attached elementary school.
The district said that more than 10 tons of building materials have since arrived in Aniak, and a construction crew is working on scaffolding to shore up the roof.
The district says staff have been holding evacuation drills over the past weeks so students can practice reaching the community hall and would be accounted for in the case of an emergency.
Aguillard told community members at the Feb. 4 meeting that she is confident the district would be able to keep holding classes for Aniak's roughly 100 students even if the newly built elementary school is deemed unsafe to occupy. She said the district office has ample space, and that the local Native corporation has offered use of an old elementary school as well.
The district said that its final action plan will depend on what a team of engineers and the district's insurer find during their visit to Aniak next week.
Aguillard also said that it has been a tough situation. The schools are more than just buildings, and this closure has come at the heart of basketball season and left a lot of academic and community events up in the air.
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