All in all, Federal Way Public Schools and its facilities fared well during the recent winter storm that led to power outages across the city late last week and through the weekend.

No school buildings were damaged, said Rod Leland, facilities director. Leland gave a brief review of the district’s response to the storm during the school board meeting Jan. 24. All schools were closed last week because of the snow and icy conditions.

“We were very fortunate in Federal Way, and in the school district, we were extraordinarily fortunate,” Leland said. “We had no damage caused by falling trees. The trees are damaged, no doubt, there are trees down. Some trees are limbless.”

Leland said he anticipates it will take the district’s nine groundskeepers somewhere between two to three weeks to deal with all the damage to trees on district property. He said any dangerous areas have been clearly marked, especially at the schools, and that there should not be any issue as long as children are kept in their designated play areas. He said district personnel plan on working overtime and weekends to clear away the debris caused by the recent storms.

The district’s facilities director reminded members of the community that those nine groundskeepers have a lot of work in front of them, no matter what.

“We have nine grounds-people. We have 40 sites, we have 400 acres. Those nine people will do the work and the cleanup at those 40 sites on those 400 acres,” he said.

A phalanx of district personnel was also moving about the district, checking buildings regularly during the storm’s aftermath. Leland said there was somebody in every building, at four-hour intervals at the minimum.

Leland also took the time to thank Puget Sound Energy, which worked with the district to restore power to schools over the weekend.

“We have to also thank Puget Sound Energy. On Saturday, they asked for a count of schools that were still without power. We identified 19. By Sunday morning, we were down to three,” he said. “We were fortunate, we were prepared when it hit, and our folks did a great job.”

SNOW MAKE-UP DATES

Federal Way schools were closed last week due to the snow and ice that pounded the region.

The school board approved three make-up dates for Federal Way students: June 18-20 (Mon.-Wed.). One date, May 29, was already designated as a snow make-up date in the school district’s calendar.

The school district will also extend its first semester by one week. The first semester will end Friday, Feb. 3, and the second semester will begin Monday, Feb. 6. Report cards will be mailed home the week of Feb. 13.