Van ISD Opens Again After Tornado Hit City
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VAN (CBSDFW.COM) - Students in the Van Independent School Disrict returned to class on Monday, eight days after a deadly tornado devastated large portions of the Van Zandt County city.
Van ISD sustained heavy damage at Rhodes Elementary and Van Intermediate Schools. A waiver from the TEA allowed the district to dismiss the students – about 850 Pre-K through 3rd graders – for the remainder of the school year.
Students 4th through 12th grade were off last week, as many families lost their homes in the weather event on May 10th.
Buses from nearby school districts helped safely deliver students to Van Middle, Van Junior High, and Van High Schools. Many of the vehicles in Van's fleet were damaged, but should be back in service by Wednesday.
For students and parents, the return to school was a welcome return to normalcy. Nearly all students in the district were pitching in with the recovery effort, from hosting fundraisers to helping with cleanup.
"We just want to fix everything as quick as we can, even though it's going to take a long time," said Jacob Long, a 4th grader whose family home was damaged.
Amy Butts is a behavioral aide – a teaching aide position – at the middle school. Her family survived the tornado but lost their home. She was glad to see her students at school this morning – many teachers have been concerned about them over the last week.
"Van takes care of Van," said Butts.
While crews are already busy removing trees from the properties of the damaged school buildings, Superintendent Don Dunn says they're still in the process of assessing the long term needs. The hope is, the Intermediate school will be ready for students by fall.
"After such an extraordinary event and week, I don't know if there's something we could have done to prepare students for today, other than getting them back in school," Dunn said.
Jaci Hamman, a parent of three Van kids, agrees. "We'll never be the same again but I hope this gives people a stronger foundation in these small communities, that we come together and leave nobody behind."
Van ISD has established a hotline for parents with questions about going back to school: (903)504-4262.
Click here to make donations to the Van ISD Tornado Relief Fund.