The Cleburne ISD Maintenance Department has received some warm words of thanks from Cleburne High School students for its efforts to keep schools up and running during last week’s frigid conditions.

            Maintenance staff members inspected schools and district facilities for winterizing needs in the days preceding the week of extreme weather, then conducted walk-throughs every day, checking for frozen pipes and leaks. Minor leaks at two campuses were discovered and addressed, before becoming major issues, due to the daily inspections.

            Seniors in Piper Davis’ AP and Dual Credit English classes emailed letters to Maintenance Director Kurt Benson, after discussing the return to warm schools with running water on Monday, when a number of schools and districts around the region remained closed due to facility issues.

            “I was so relieved and grateful to our Maintenance team when I saw our beautiful school ready to receive students Monday morning,” Davis said. “I knew the kids in my classes would feel the same way. We talked about districts like Fort Worth, Dallas and Austin all of which experienced costly damage and additional lost days as a result of the weather-related conditions of last week. I suggested writing letters to our Maintenance employees and they immediately responded to the idea.”

“Many of the kids had difficult stories to tell from last week,” Davis said. “After last spring, when schools closed and implemented distance learning due to COVID, these students are very aware of the value of their education. They have experienced first-hand, several times over, how quickly things that they once took for granted—like store shelves full of groceries—can be lost.”

            Davis’ personal gratitude for the hard-work and dedication of the Maintenance Department includes one member in particular—her son-in-law, Kristopher Sandoval, who serves as an electrician for the District.

            “I had first-hand knowledge of some of the hard work that went on behind the scenes, because of Kristopher,” she said. “I watched last week as he bundled up and headed to work each morning on icy roads—and I know he was by no means the only one. Each night at dinner I heard stories of the daily school inspections.”

            The letter writing activity also gave her students the chance to practice their business-writing skills, which will be needed as they prepare for college and career.

            “It was an excellent opportunity to review and put to work what they have been learning,” Davis said. “Our students wrote some beautiful, professional and heartfelt letters about a real-world situation, to an audience that deserved to be recognized for a job well done. It was an all-around win.”

            In her letter, CHS senior Giullia Conceição said she was grateful for the state of “normalcy” she walked into on Monday’s return to school.

            “I couldn’t help but feel relieved that our high school appeared to be in perfect condition,” Conceição said. “Although temperatures plummeted, water pipes busted open and electricity unfortunately died in many of our homes, I am so grateful that Cleburne High continued to be in a state of normalcy. Knowing that your team was called in to save our school from any damages, despite the treacherous and frigid weather, truly shows that the students in our community are cared for.”

            Piper Lanford also expressed her appreciation for the hard work put in by Maintenance crew members through the “sudden disaster” that lasted for days.

            “I want to thank our workers for their hard work and dedication to keeping our school safe and functional even through such a sudden disaster as the snowstorm that hit last week, that no one was fully prepared for,” Lanford wrote. “As everyone knows, Texas buildings are not designed for the cold, and the fact that we were able to come back to school so soon, after such a storm, means you worked in very poor and freezing conditions to keep the school, water, and electricity running. Several school districts could not open today because of damage from the storm, but ours did and that means a lot. We are grateful for all the work you put in last week.”

                Mackenzie James’ letter thanked Benson and his staff for their efforts every day—no matter the weather.

            “I am thankful to you all for not only braving the winter storm, but for always getting up every day and doing what you can to make sure Cleburne students have the best school day experience possible,” James stated. “Thank you for everything you do—it does not go unnoticed.”

            Barry Hipp, CISD senior director of District Operations, said the letters, which were shared with the Maintenance staff and District administration, mean a lot.

            “This was very nice for our guys to receive the recognition for their hard work last week,” Hipp said. “They worked hard to insure that our schools and buildings would be ready and working on Monday. The preparedness put in before the weather got bad, coupled with the continual monitoring of our buildings, made a great difference. We were able to re-open our schools when a number of districts could not.”

            At Monday’s school board meeting, Trustees approved a waiver to the Texas Education Agency for missed instructional days, February 17-19, which should alleviate the District from instituting makeup days. Distance learning was utilized on the first two days of campus closings due to the weather, but was discontinued for the remainder of the week due to power outages and intermittent internet service experienced by both students and teachers.

            March 12 will now be utilized as a 1:30 early release day for students to allow teachers to conduct parent conferences, which had originally been scheduled February 18-19.