Safety

As described in the presentation last week, there will be a safety fence around the entire work zone. This will be one of the first things built for the project. Kids will be able to watch some of the work, but we will direct them to not distract the workers with questions--just as we direct them to not start up conversations with folks on the bike path.

We encourage the kids (and their grownups), however, to feel free to direct questions to teachers and lunch duty parents--and we'll see what we can get answered.

General safety precautions related to an occupied work site, provided by our contractor:
- They run a state background check on all of their employees that searches for drug and driving violations, and flags all other court-related issues (including theft and sex offenses).
- They meet the safety and background requirements for Virginia Tech construction work.
- They utilize their own crew wherever possible (meaning less subcontractors) and they will have two supervisors on-site at all times--with their own crew and with any subcontractors.

Additionally, members of the building committee have communicated this week with teachers and with the TRO coordinators to outline the following additional safety measures:
- As always, students are never outside on their own unsupervised.
- An adult (teachers during snack recesses, lunch duty parents during lunch recesses, and ASP staff and pick-up helpers during pick-up and ASP recesses) will be supervising any play in the new "back triangle."
- Those adults will also keep eyes on the work zone and ensure that any students watching construction are doing so from the designated safe distance.
- During the construction time period that involves work inside the main (elementary) building, teachers and the assistant lunch duty parent will monitor any kids going inside to refill water bottles or use the bathroom.

Please let me know of any concerns (or questions) you have about anything during the construction. And please know that, while this is the largest project we have done since the original building (which, of course, happened on an unoccupied site), we have successfully navigated two other construction projects on-site with kids in the buildings and on the playground. We are a very well supervised operation during regular times, and we do want to amp that up during this spring and summer (and maybe a tiny bit of the fall 😉).