Tornado, floods caused millions in damages to Leon Schools; Godby seniors last day extended

Leon Schools Superintendent Rocky Hanna says three tornadoes that rocked the city on May 10 and an epic flood a month earlier that swamped schools may have caused between $8 million and $10 million in damages.

During a rescheduled school board meeting Thursday, Hanna told board members the district will likely have to pay $200,000 in deductibles out of pocket.

Each severe weather event caused between $3 million and $5 million dollars in damages. This includes staff pay, roof damage, tree removals and water cleanup, district spokesperson Chris Petley said.

Just last month, the district was forced to pay a $100,000 deductible for flood damage at Godby and other school sites. When administrators arrived at Godby that morning, they realized that all but three of the buildings had endured "significant flooding."

"My favorite word in the English dictionary is the word perseverance, and the Godby High School class of 2024 has done just that," Hanna told the Tallahassee Democrat.

Godby High school year extended by two days for seniors

Moreover, after the death of a classmate, a flood that shut down classes for two days and three tornadoes that ripped through the city, Godby seniors have one last trial to face before crossing the graduation stage Wednesday.

Hanna said while seniors around the district will finish their school year Friday, Godby seniors will remain in classes through Tuesday, May 21, just a day before their graduation.

"Many of them did not even start high school until halfway through their sophomore year because of the pandemic, so that's how they started their high school career," Hanna said.

The reason for the extension: The legislative requirement of 180 days of school, and specifically a minimum of 900 instructional hours for high-school students.

In the span of a month, Godby students missed out on five days of school, which amounts to about 30 hours of instruction time, coming dangerously short of the state's requirement.

Hanna said it is important for Godby High parents to make sure their seniors are at school on Monday and Tuesday to meet all the requirements for graduation.

Board members praise Hanna and administrators' leadership

Leon County Schools received sharp criticism from some parents for decisions made in opening and closing schools in the aftermath of the May 10 storms.

"At the end of the day, not a child was injured, not an employee was injured," Hanna said, responding to his decisions.

One Facebook user commented: "So so so DISAPPOINTED in Leon County schools with how this was all handled today." But another said, "If they would have closed schools then people would be on here blasting him for closing the schools … damned if you do and damned if you don’t."

Despite conflicting responses from parents and vitriol that led the district to block social media comments on their announcements, school board members praised Hanna for his leadership.

"Superintendent, I just have to say, you have endured challenge after challenge after challenge and the fact that you're willing to take responsibility in your leadership, thank you," board vice chair Laurie Lawson Cox said.

Board member Alva Swafford Smith added, "I want to thank you for your leadership, and I texted you that I was so impressed. You know a leader is someone who makes really tough decisions when they don't have the time to assess all the options, and they do it with the information they have, in the time they need to do it."

As demands for immediate communications from the district was widespread, the district opted to give parents direct communication via automated text messaging and phone calls, something Hanna said was a huge help in reaching thousands of parents.

"There will be a new handbook on how to deal with all this because this is a new phenomenon for us," Hanna said. "This is a whole new game for us, and we'll adapt and adjust and get better."

Alaijah Brown covers children & families for the Tallahassee Democrat. She can be reached atABrown1@gannett.com.Follow her on Twitter/X:@AlaijahBrown3

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Storm recovery: Here's how much tornado damage will cost Leon schools