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Superintendent: Tornado destroyed leased district office; staff temporarily relocated to BOCES space
Summary
Rome City School District’s superintendent said the leased district office was destroyed in a tornado; BOCES has offered temporary space for the district office for an estimated 6–8 months while the landlord rebuilds. The board heard updates on staffing, translation services and reopening plans.
The superintendent of the Rome City School District told the board that the leased district office was destroyed by a tornado and that staff sheltered in the building's basement during the storm. "We are resilient," she said, thanking district staff and the community for support and describing how facilities staff and partners helped immediately after the event.
She said the district office team has been temporarily accommodated at Rome Free Academy (RFA) and that BOCES has offered space free of charge for the district office for an estimated six to eight months while the landlord, identified in the report as Lynn Rosen, rebuilds the leased space. The superintendent said the district hopes to move to the BOCES location on either Aug. 5 or Aug. 12 and will communicate details to staff and families once a date is confirmed.
The superintendent outlined continuing operational steps: a 100-day plan posted on the district website, an administrators' retreat planned for Aug. 15, and work to provide phone-based translation services to better serve multilingual families. She said staffing actions are underway, including completion of interviews for director of secondary programs and forthcoming background/reference checks before recommendations are brought to the board.
She also said district staff are drafting a memo to the governor's regional liaison to escalate longstanding facility concerns (the superintendent referenced previous memos to federal offices) and reported that a walk-through of the Stanwix Building took place and that real-estate interest might result in an offer to the board in the future.
The superintendent described discussions with the landlord and with Rob Meza and a design firm (Navella) about rebuilding plans and said the landlord has offered to rebuild at no additional cost beyond the prior lease. She urged patience as the district manages relocations and noted the district will travel between sites while operations are staged in temporary space.
Next steps the superintendent identified included finalizing the move date to BOCES, continuing staffing appointments, completing planning for reopening schools and publishing more detail about the 100-day plan and translation services for families.
