The first day of the new school year is Tuesday, but will Ecker Hill Middle School really be ready for students then? That’s still a bit of a mystery due to obvious construction delays.
While rumors are circulating in the community – and even among district staff – the Park City School District confirmed only by Monday evening that the new wing of the school is not yet ready and therefore an “emergency plan” is being put into effect.
“Because students received their schedules prior to the completion of the new wing, principals enacted a contingency plan for construction to avoid any last-minute disruptions,” said district spokeswoman Heidi Matthews. “We expect to be able to implement this plan during the first week of school, which will require some short-term flexibility and resilience. Construction crews are working diligently.”
The school administration also remained vague about the details and referred to the district policy that communication with the media must go through the district.
The district has not yet responded to questions about what the emergency plan includes and what it will look like for students who are scheduled to attend middle school this week.
Because students don’t share enough information even when they pack their backpacks and look at bus schedules the day before school starts, parents – including Park City School Board member Meredith Reed – are frustrated.
Reed, whose child attends Ecker Hill School, said she has not received any information about the delay and ongoing construction through official school district channels, instead having to rely on vague communications from school staff and the parent-teacher organization.
On Aug. 14, she received an email from the parent council informing her that sixth-graders cannot visit their classrooms or lockers during registration. A monitor scrolling through photos of the school seen at the building’s visitor check-in showed Monday that many lockers were surrounded by building materials and projects.
On August 16, she received another email from Garret Rose, principal of Ecker Hill School, informing parents that the district’s “building friends are in the process of finalizing the appropriate actions” and thanking them for their patience and understanding.
“As a board member, I have not received any communication on this,” she said. “It appears they are not familiar with the communications policy of ‘bad news does not get better with time.'”
Like many others in the community, she has to deal with rumors and stories that circulate through the rumor mill.
A school district faculty member who spoke to The Park Record on condition of anonymity said the school currently has 12 classrooms that are not ready for students and that some students do not have access to their lockers.
There were also questions about whether the school passed an inspection last week. Summit County and Park City officials have said they are not responsible for the school’s projects because a state law requires use permits.
“They missed a deadline they knew about for years. Why is that?” the faculty member asked. “The well-being of students and families is not the district’s top priority.”
The Park Record reached out to the state school board with questions about the building’s inspection and occupancy permit and had not received a response as of Monday evening.
Matthews said she is working to release more information about the emergency plan and this story will be updated as more information becomes available.
