Press Release:
27 September 2000

As the situation continues to develop at Yuma High School regarding mold identification and clean-up, we will release these updates daily, or as needed.  They will be as accurate as possible up to the time they are printed. 


Contact: David C. Smith, Ed. D. Principal
Phone:     (520) 726-1731 YUHSD
                (520) 783-7837 (Cibola High School)

The Administration of Yuma High School would like to assure parents and students that we are doing everything possible to provide the best education to the students given our current curcumstances.  We are very proud of the students and the parents of our community.  Over 2000 students came on the first day showing us that they know how important their education is and that they care about their school.

Our operations are now at Cibola High School while the clean-up process is underway.  We have clerical staff at Cibola from 12:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. to assist parents and students.  From 12:30 to 4:30 the telephone system set up for Cibola High School will be answering calls for both Cibola High School and Yuma High School.

We are working on the homework program for the students unable to attend school during this crisis. Our first priority was to get the students and teachers``````` into classrooms, to get the food service program operational, and to get the buses running.  We are now working with parents and students who are not able to attend school during the evening hours.  If a family is having difficulty with school attendance, the parents are asked to call the student's counselor and explain the circumstances.  This will enable us to work with individual families on a case by case basis. We are still exploring homework packages.  However, because of the excellent turnout, we may be able to work out individual alternative programs rather than packages.  It is important that parents contact us so that we can develop the most appropriate programs for their students.

We sent the students and the staff home when we thought the mold clean up would only take one to two weeks.  Many students and staff left textbooks, worksheets, lesson plans and other materials at the Yuma High School campus.  We are working on the logistics to get as much material together as we can.  This is a huge task.   We have around 500 class sections in operation.  There is a very large shopping list of materials to retrieve.

In addition to setting up operations at Cibola and working with families to develop alternatives where possible, we continue to explore a number of possibilities that will get us back into daytime operations as soon as possible

THIRD PARENT MEETING TO BE HELD AT POST AUDITORIUM

Another meeting for parents, students, staff, and the community will be held at Post Auditorium this Saturday, September 30th, from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. to provide the latest information on the mold problem at Yuma High School.  Dr. Smith, the Principal, will discuss the split schedule at Cibola High School and the school's operation for the immediate future.  Mr. Farar, the Business Manager for the school district, will be available to answer questions on the extent of the problem and its costs.