Storm damage led to $75,000 gym repairs at Hickman County Middle School, officials say

District staff told the Hickman County Board of Education that a recent storm ripped roofing from the Hickman County Middle School gym, soaked the building and ruined the old parquet gym floor. Contractors have dried the building and completed most roofing work; the floor company is scheduled to install a new playing surface.

School maintenance and district staff said they chose to upgrade the roof insulation to current code (from 1 inch originally to 3 inches now), even though insurance would have replaced it “in kind” with the original 1 inch. The district estimated the additional insulation cost at about $20,000; the insurer’s depreciation on the roof and floor was listed as roughly $50,000. With the chosen upgrades and the new floating floor construction, officials said the net cost to the district for roof and floor improvements will be about $75,000.

Maintenance staff explained the new floor will be a floating floor supported on a substructure (2x4s) rather than the older wooden parquet tiles set directly on concrete. The floating floor is used at both district high schools and is expected to provide more give and reduce injuries such as shin splints.

Officials also said the district will pursue insurance recovery and that some of the work had prior approval for ESSER funds; staff are appealing to state education authorities to have ESSER pay for previously approved spring-break work. The district will update the board when insurance and ESSER outcomes are known.

Ending: The board was informed of the decision to upgrade to current-code roof insulation and to install a floating gym floor; the district expects completion soon and will report back on insurance and ESSER reimbursement progress.