В штате Огайо торжественно открыли новую среднюю школу Пикетона после семилетнего процесса переселения из здания с радиоактивным загрязнением

A seven-year process reached the finish line Thursday afternoon, Aug. 13, as the Scioto Valley Local School District held a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of the new Piketon Middle School. The new home for the district's third-through-fifth grade students replaces the Zahn's Corner Middle School building, which closed May 13, 2019, due to the detection of enriched uranium inside the school building and neptunium-237 in a U.S. Department of Energy air monitor adjacent to the school. At that point, the process of seeking answers and solutions began, leading to the building of the new facility. "I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for coming out today and celebrating the opening of our new middle school. This is a big day for everybody," Piketon Superintendent Wes Hairston said. "It's been tough to get to this point where we were able to come through the doors here, open up this brand new school, and know it's going to impact lives for the next 30 years." To understand how the new school came to be, speakers at the ribbon cutting shared some of the history and how the process unfolded from the closure of Zahn's Corner School to the opening of Piketon Middle School. Hairston became the district's superintendent in August 2019. He backed the school board members on the tough decision to close Zahn's Corner Middle School. The district's students, who were once housed in three different buildings, merged into two as the Piketon Junior High/High School building absorbed fifth grade, while Jasper Elementary took on third and fourth grade. Around that same time, the Scioto Valley Local School District formed a Council of Governments (COG) and connected with a lawyer, former Congressman Zack Space, who now serves as the president of Sunday Creek Horizons, an advocacy firm operating in rural and Appalachian Ohio. The firm was also established in 2019. "Congressman Space had connections in Washington, D.C. that, obviously, people like me don't have," Hairston said. "You still have to have someone to get you to the upper levels of government." Space reached to former Senator Sherrod Brown, former Senator Joe Manchin, former Congressman Tim Ryan and Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur. Additionally, Senator Shane Wilkin reached out and helped the district get in contact with Governor Mike DeWine. Ultimately, the state did not provide any funding, but the federal government did, covering $20 million of the $21 million needed to finish the job. Kevin Shoemaker, who serves as the in-house counsel at the Southern Ohio Diversification Initiative (SODI), was responsible for administering the $20 million. He said he was thrilled to be the one responsible for that, coming from a long line of educators within his family. The Scioto Valley Local School District had to find money to cover the remaining $1 million. Hairston was proud of the fact that they never asked the taxpayers to help fund it. When Zack Space addressed the crowd, he talked about seeing a unified community in Pike County. "I remember how all this started. It wasn't with a ribbon cutting or groundbreaking. It started with that monitor that was referenced across the street from Zahn's Corner Middle School. A DOE monitor that picked up americium and some other dangerous isotopes to bear the fingerprints of the decades of uranium enrichment at the PORTS [Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant] site just down the road. "When the school board found out, they closed the building, quarantined it and told the truth to the parents of this district. Though, at that time, they had no idea how it was going to be fixed. That is the moment I want to talk a little bit about today. In that moment, this community had every reason to feel small," Space said. Space went on to share how Pike County persevered in a time when it could have folded. "Pike County is not a wealthy county. It doesn't have deep benches of lobbyists, or a war chest they could use to fight the federal government with. But, what it had was something the federal government could not ignore once it saw it. That is a community that refused to accept 'no' and refused to fight against each other while they fought for their kids. "For many decades, the people of Pike County went to work at the DOE site down the road. It had nothing to do with honors or plaques. They did it because their work in enriching uranium at the gaseous diffusion plant was an outsized part of how this country won the Cold War. That is no small thing. Generations of families in this county carried a piece of national security on their shoulders quietly for decades, often without any recognition for it. The very ground that later caused the school to close is the same ground the Pike County families helped operate to keep our country safe. There is a hard irony in that, but there's also a legacy of grit and purpose in this county that is exactly why we were able to win this fight," Space said. Jennifer Chandler, a Piketon graduate who has served in many roles within Piketon and Pike County, serves as the chairperson of the Scioto Valley Piketon Area Council of Governments. "Today is a reminder that a strong, vibrant community depends on collaboration, and our ability and willingness to work together for the good of the community. "Our children are dearly loved and vitally important to the future of Pike County. We will do everything in our power to make sure their school is a safe place, and their futures are bright and full of possibilities. Today's ribbon cutting represents endless possibilities. These students will have an opportunity to learn and grow in this beautiful new building," Chandler said. Megan Williams, who serves as the Scioto Valley Local School district treasurer, spoke next. She said it was her desire to use her remarks to thank people who helped get them to this point. Williams thanked numerous individuals by name. Perhaps the most touching part of her remarks came when she addressed the Scioto Valley Local Schools staff. "The Zahn's Corner staff were directly impacted by closing the building, but there was a ripple effect through this district. People were displaced. Belongings were left behind. Teaching assignments were changed, and life in general was disrupted. Conference rooms, teachers' lounges, and even closets were used as offices for speech therapy or counseling space. Intervention teachers shared rooms. Some teachers were nomads with no permanent space of their own. "We see what you went through. We thank you for your perseverance. We hope this building brings you joy and closes a sad chapter once and for all. We're not living in the past anymore. We are moving forward, and you are the backbone of this district. You deserve nothing but the best," Williams said. Hairston looks forward to the start of school on Aug. 19 and all of the opportunities that the new building will offer the students who walk through the doors. "Education will provide you opportunities that you can't imagine. I am so proud of this school and the fact that it's now here," said Hairston. "We have a great staff and a great young principal that does marvelous things with young people. The focus here will be on students. I can't wait for school to start next week to see the looks on faces when students and staff, alike, come through the doors for the first time. It's a gorgeous facility. It's amazing that our young people have this."