OISD Construction: Detours Today, Safer Halls Tomorrow

Every day while walking to go to eat in the cafeteria or to get to classes in the CATE building, students at Olney High School are having to maneuver a little differently this year.

With all the construction going on, it’s no secret that lots of changes are being made to OHS, but many students don’t actually know what the end goal is or when we can expect these projects to be completed. Luckily, all the answers for your construction questions are here.

There are five different buildings under construction on campus.

“OES, OJH, OHS, the CTE building, and the daycare are all under construction to one degree or another,” OISD Superintendent Dr. Matt Caffey said.

Dr. Caffey said all the construction should be done by the start of school next year.

“The offices in OES are very near complete,” Dr. Caffey said. “The corridor and classrooms that will connect OES and OJH have had a concrete foundation poured. The same is true for the corridor that will connect OHS to the CTE building. We should be seeing metal go up soon. The daycare also has its corridor foundation poured.”

Much of the construction is to eliminate students having to go outside to be able to access a tornado shelter in the gym or the safe building next to the daycare.

“Several years ago we had a safety and security audit and one of the vulnerabilities that needed to be addressed was safe access to tornado shelters for the secondary campuses and the daycare,” Dr. Caffey said. “The newly constructed areas will be storm proof shelters while also being practical corridors and classrooms.”

The goal for these projects is to protect students in the case of an emergency.

“We simply want to be prepared with safe shelters should the day ever arrive when a tornado hits our school,” Caffey said. “We want everyone to be able to walk away unharmed.”