Markham Colocation Update, April 9

Dear Markham staff and families,

Thank you to everyone who participated in the community survey and in Friday night’s virtual meeting regarding the possible use of portable classrooms on the Hayhurst campus. If you were not able to attend the meeting, you can watch it here or via the link below.

Those of you who were at the meeting have heard this already, but the company we contracted with to supply the portables recently informed us that the units would be delayed by an additional two to three weeks. This delay would mean that the portables would not be ready for use until mid-May, at the earliest.

Given this new information – and after reviewing the results of the survey and hearing from many of you on Friday night – we have decided not to move forward with the portable units. It would be counterproductive and destabilizing to move students now when they would only have access to the portables for such a short time. We also want to respect the routines everyone has worked so hard to establish over the last three months.

To be clear, students and staff will remain at their host schools for the remainder of the school year.

Markham Remediation and Reconstruction Update

Work crews are continuing to make progress in abating asbestos at the Markham school building, but, as we have laid out in previous updates, large-scale asbestos abatement takes a great deal of time to complete. Abatement at Markham is taking place in three phases, which allows several reconstruction projects to run concurrently. Workers have finished phase 1, allowing the plumbing crew to begin replacing damaged water piping. Phase 2 abatement has started and will be complete by the end of April, which is also when installation of the new gym floor will begin.

We understand that some staff members want to access the building to collect personal items but, unfortunately, it’s simply not safe. Markham is an active construction site and only authorized personnel are allowed inside at this time.

Fall Contingency Plans

We know that everyone is anxious to know what teaching and learning will look like in the fall. We are currently considering several temporary relocation options that would bring Markham students and staff back together again to learn and grow as one community. We will share those options with you early next week.

We will also send an invitation to another virtual community meeting in which we will discuss the many factors that go into this decision (unique grade-level needs, transportation, nutrition services, safety and security considerations, etc).

We are grateful to you for engaging with us in these important decisions. We will be in touch again next week.

Sincerely,

Dr. Jon Franco, Chief of Schools

Dan Jung, Chief Operating Officer