On the day before Helene hit, the last thing McDowell County Schools’ Superintendent Tracy Grit did was visit Old Fort Elementary. He walked the perimeter in the rain and stood outside where it overlooks Mill Creek. The school was built only five years ago, on a berm just beyond the hundred-year flood plain.
"I thought, ‘We’re going to be alright. There's no way that's going to get in our school,’” Grit recalled. “But, man, was I wrong."
When stormwater rushed down the ridge, that little mountain creek swelled. It surrounded the building and swept a school bus off the parking lot.
"Then it carried it over Interstate I-40, and it ended up about a mile down the road,” Grit said. “It was peeled open like a soda can.”
Ankle-deep water consumed the school’s first floor. A layer of muck had to be cleared out. Last week, the National Guard carried out salvageable furniture, while workers in hazmat suits stripped out carpet. Mold mitigation and mechanical repairs will take longer.
Grit says he doesn’t have an exact estimate, but he expects it will take months to reopen the school building.
More than 50,000 students in western North Carolina have been out of school for more than two weeks, as their communities recover from Helene. Nine school districts have been out since the storm hit, according to the North Carolina School Superintendents’ Association.
In McDowell County, at the eastern base of the Blue Ridge Mountains, students from Old Fort Elementary are returning to class Monday — but not to their school. The students are combining with classes at another elementary school.
Students and teachers return from an unexpected hiatus
With many mountain roads still closed, the district is sending buses out as far as they can go. Grit said some students are traveling on four wheelers or being dropped off at the end of roads to walk the rest of the way to buses.
“They're having to come down hollers and hills and creeksides,” Grit said.
Old Fort Elementary’s teachers, staff and roughly 300 students are moving into Pleasant Gardens Elementary, which reopened last week.
In Kelly Phillips’ kindergarten class, students shared what they did while they were out of school.
"I went to check on my family, and our tree fell on our chicken coop, but our chickens are OK,” said Tessa.
“We were looking for somebody,” said Xavier.
“A dinosaur?” Violet asked him.
“No, a person,” Xavier replied.
“I played, worked on the fence. I know how to drill now,” said Myleigh.
Meanwhile, school staff have been working nonstop. For a while, the school district had the only diesel fuel in the county. Grit filled up emergency vehicles with the fuel reserve for buses. Staff salvaged food from school fridges and brought it to shelters. Teachers helped identify missing community members who made it to shelters and handed out supplies.
First grade teacher Rhonda Tipper’s husband is the pastor of a church that opened up as a distribution center.
"Everybody’s been so busy this whole time, because when you start thinking about it, you get all up in your head and all up in your feelings,” Tipper said. “You just got to keep moving."
This week, she’s moving from the flooded Old Fort Elementary to Pleasant Gardens Elementary.
"It does feel fast, but, you know, teachers are known for getting things done," Tipper said with a smile.
Her fellow first grade teacher Stephanie Roark will combine classes with others to fit in the new school. The three first grade teachers will teach as a team.
"The majority of the class is going to be their kids. Mine's a small portion of each class, and they're willing to let me step in and teach so that I can have a part," Roark explained.
The team of teachers is looking forward to having their first graders from one of the hardest-hit communities back in their care.
“It'll just be good to see their faces. Hug on them, love them, know that they're safe and with us,” teacher Abby Gray said.
How McDowell County Schools was able to reopen in two weeks
Grit says it was possible to open schools this quickly because residents who owned chainsaws and backhoes started clearing roads even before aid arrived. The town of Marion never lost water, in part because the schools’ diesel truck fueled the treatment plant’s generator. Grit said schools are part of the local infrastructure, too.
“We are infrastructure, I feel like we really are,” Grit said. “I mean the work that's going on and how that holds the community together is critical.”
The school district is the second largest employer in the county. Schools offer kids a safe place and a hot meal. Plus, Grit said he’s worried about everybody’s mental health. That’s why reopening was imperative.
“Our schools are kind of the heartbeat of the community, and we knew that when we stood our schools back up, that it would help our community stand up,” Grit said.
On the opposite side of the mountain is Buncombe County, where water and power are still out, and schools are expected to remain closed all month.
