One year later: A look at Columbia Elementary School's temporary home at Centennial High
Two schools in one: A year after Columbia Elementary School was evacuated to Centennial High School, two principals reflect on their dual campus.
One year later: A look at Columbia Elementary School's temporary home at Centennial High Two schools in one: A year after Columbia Elementary School was evacuated to Centennial High School, two principals reflect on their dual campus. Check out this story on lcsun-news.com: https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/education/lcps/2019/11/03/columbia-elementary-refuge-centennial-high-las-cruces-enters-second-year/2488109001/
Algernon D'Ammassa, Las Cruces Sun-News Published 1:17 p.m. MT Nov. 3, 2019 | Updated 6:36 p.m. MT Nov. 3, 2019
A year after an elementary school's emergency relocation to her school, Centennial High School Principal Susie Hendee reflects on the dual campuses. Las Cruces Sun-News
LAS CRUCES - The sign that once greeted visitors to Columbia Elementary School on Elks Drive has been uprooted and transplanted to a spot adjacent to a parking lot at Centennial High School across town.
In the building known as Centennial's "C Cluster," the elementary school is in residence for a second year after being evacuated from its building on the other side of Las Cruces on Sept. 7, 2018 — a building many of the school's staff and families refer to as "home."
The entrance to the school's temporary home is through a small side door, where a security guard greets visitors and refers them to an internal office serving as a reception area.
Here, students arriving late to school have breakfast waiting for them in a blue cooler near the office entrance, courtesy of the "Breakfast 'til the lunch bell" program.
The district relocated the school's entire staff and more than 400 elementary school students to Centennial after evacuating the school.
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The evacuation followed an analysis of mold spores at the elementary school, which had been plagued with moisture and mold infiltration since the building opened in 2003. The school was built on a compressed construction schedule by Wooten Construction of Las Cruces, and an inspection of the building envelope last year determined that a subcontractor had installed vapor barrier sheeting backward.
The sign that once greeted visitors to Columbia Elementary School on Elks Drive has been uprooted and transplanted to a spot adjacent to a parking lot at Centennial High School, where the elementary school's temporary campus is now in its second year. (Photo: Nathan J Fish/Sun-News)
The error, never caught in subsequent inspections, caused moisture to be directed inward instead of out through the stucco exterior.
Although the school is built over an arroyo and there had also been problems with stormwater pooling on the school grounds, engineering consultants attributed the persistent mold to water infiltrating through the walls.
2018: A long field trip: Columbia Elementary settles in at Centennial High campus
'They told me it was for a week or so'
Centennial High School Principal Susie Hendee recalled that when the district asked her to clear some space for Columbia,"they told me it was for a week or so."
Staff hurriedly cleared space in a building on the campus' east side to provide the 20 classrooms requested by central office, converting it into a makeshift elementary school, but with bathroom facilities and stairs not designed for children ages 5 to 10.
For the 2018-19 school year, Centennial sacrificed its freshman academy, a discrete area for ninth graders to focus on their transition from middle school to high school before being mixed in with upperclassmen.
Centennial and Columbia staff wrangled with matters of security and logistics, working out parking and traffic as well as how to segregate the younger children from high school students.
Columbia student families expressed concern over commingling the school communities, with concerns reaching their highest point after an altercation in March led to a Centennial student being charged with battery on a security guard.
Portables and playground equipment have recently been installed on the campus of Centennial High School, where Columbia Elementary School is passing its second school year on campus following their school's evacuation in 2018. Seen Friday, Oct. 18, 2019. (Photo: Nathan J Fish/Sun-News)
By the middle of the school year, it was clear that Columbia would be making an extended stay at Centennial as the school board agonized over whether to remodel the existing Columbia building or construct a new one.
The two principals planned how best to use the facility with Columbia as a long-term guest.
Modifications for Columbia
This year, Columbia occupies the entire C building and the top section of the B building on the east end of campus.
Centennial has resumed its freshman academy on the second and third floors of the D cluster, with some mixed-class high school electives on the ground floor.
The district installed age-appropriate playground equipment for Columbia's use, next to portable structures which house enrichment and special education classes. Columbia Principal Michelle Valdez said many of the school's first-graders were unfamiliar with playground equipment, since they had none most of last year.
Restrooms were remodeled and a satellite cafeteria space was arranged to serve K-5 students.
To prevent encounters with high school students, the district installed new fencing and locking doors. Columbia has its own pair of security guards as well.
Valdez said that for Columbia students and staff, the difference between this year and last is "like night and day."
Portions of Centennial High School have been transformed into a home for Columbia Elementary, pictured here Oct. 18, 2019. Columbia students and staff had to be evacuated from their original building in September 2018 because of mold. (Photo: Nathan J Fish/Sun-News)
"This has much more of an elementary school feel to it," Valdez said. "Our teachers are happier, the kids have said they like this so much better, and parents feel better about this arrangement."
The principals meet regularly to coordinate emergency drills and school events. Hendee said there are events on Centennial's campus nearly every day, in addition to ceremonies and other events held by Columbia.
Meanwhile, Columbia is making do with fewer classrooms and less space than they had in their old 83,000-square-foot building 10 miles away, a building where every classroom had a storage closet. At Centennial, storage boxes were visible in Columbia's reception area as well as Valdez's office.
"We had to do a lot of purging and getting rid of a lot of things we thought maybe one day we would use," Valdez said. "We've gone through a lot of the things that we don't need anymore and kind of downsized, so that when we do move into our new building we're not going to be taking a whole bunch of junk with us."
Meanwhile, Valdez remains responsible for inventoried items that remain stored in Columbia's evacuated building, yet unaware of their condition as the building sits and seasons pass.
'It's kind of like living in purgatory'
Valdez said Hendee and the staff at Centennial have made extraordinary accommodations throughout the year, and Hendee said much of that effort fell on secretarial and custodial staff who made physical changes and relocated and reorganized facilities and supplies.
Even so, uncertainty about Columbia's future was a weight on staff, Valdez conceded.
"It's kind of like living in purgatory," she said. "You think you know what's going to happen and then all of a sudden it's not happening. … We've now been here over a year and we're kind of in exactly the same place we were a year ago."
New fencing and security doors have been installed to secure the Columbia Elementary School's area on Centennial High School's campus, segregating the elementary students from the high school students. (Photo: Nathan J Fish/Sun-News)
"It makes me sad for them," Hendee said. "They want their own school. The kids want to be back, the teachers want to be back."
Columbia families were happier with the new arrangements at Centennial, Valdez said, but the longer commute has taken a toll and contributed to a drop in enrollment.
When Columbia moved to Centennial on Sept. 7 last year, the district reported enrollment at 479 students kindergarten through fifth grade. This year, the 40-day enrollment at Columbia is 377 students, a 21 percent decrease. Valdez said 40 of this year's students are in the Head Start or DDPre programs located at other school sites. At Centennial, there are just 337 children attending Columbia.
Keeping the Columbia community together has come at a cost. Those who stuck it out are spending more time on the road — and paying for it.
"We have parents that live in Doña Ana, and one parent said her fuel bill changed by $450 a month," Valdez said. "We have some parents who go 30 miles round-trip to get out here. No matter what we do physically with the space that we're in, it doesn't change the fact that we are on the opposite side of the world from our community."
Some parents opt to drive their students so their children are not boarding a bus at 7 a.m. and departing as late as 4 p.m. "That's a long day when you're 5," Valdez said.
Columbia's future 'uncertain'
Since the move, Valdez has been public in her desire to see the building repaired rather than replaced, arguing that it would require less time and money, and allow some of Columbia's current students to return to Elks Drive.
When the school board voted in February to construct a new school building, estimated to require 24 months at a cost of $30 million, it was with the hope that the Public School Capital Outlay Council would provide as much as 64 percent of the required funds, after Columbia appeared high on a list of funding priorities.
Instead, the PSCOC decided in October that a preliminary elementary school capacity study would be required, adding months to the process with no guarantee a new building would be approved for funds.
More: Passionate school board members, candidates sound off on Columbia
"Now we're looking at at least another three years here," Valdez said. "That means that our kindergarteners that started with us last year will never see the inside of an elementary school building."
A classroom at Centennial High School in a building currently occupied by Columbia Elementary School, a year after the elementary school was evacuated for persistent mold infestations. Friday, Oct. 18, 2019. (Photo: Nathan J Fish/Sun-News)
On Oct. 29, Las Cruces Public Schools Board of Education president Ed Frank was the first school board member to suggest revisiting the decision to build a new school rather than repair Columbia, as the elementary school's stay at the high school appeared to be lengthening.
"I feel like the future for Columbia is very uncertain," Frank said, "and that is really bothersome."
At Centennial, Hendee said she had not had any conversations with the district about what would become of the modifications to her school once Columbia leaves. Ultimately, she said, "everything has to come back to what's best for kids. Everything."
Algernon D'Ammassa can be reached at 575-541-5451, adammassa@lcsun-news.com or @AlgernonWrites on Twitter.
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