Washington School District 51 recognized city officials for their recovery efforts following the November 17th tornado. The district recognized Washington’s mayor, city administrator, police and fire chief for helping re-open the schools following the devastating storms. District Superintendent Chad Allaman says the officials helped quickly re-open the primary and middle schools:
“Allowing us to get our contractors in, providing us with information, access and support so that we could just re-open, and we were very thankful to get re-opened after Thanksgiving break...this was a Herculean effort by a lot of people,” Allaman says.
Allaman says educators were forced go through security checkpoints to access school buildings after the storm. Mayor Gary Manier says the city made the schools a top priority for debris removal and security after the tornado.