The Pell City School District is preparing for more construction this summer than they had anticipated due to the April 27 storms.

During their regular meeting Monday night, the Pell City Board of Education approved a motion to proceed with emergency to repairs to Pell City High School and Duran North Junior High School due to storm damage to the roofs of both schools.

“Both of them had roof damage. In the case of Duran North, it just kind of picked up the roof and set it back down, damaging part of that roof,” Superintendent Bobby Hathcock said.

At the high school and in the band room area, he said, the heating and cooling units were ripped off the roof.

“It could have been a whole lot worse, but it was bad enough,” he said.

Both schools were temporarily repaired, allowing students to finish the school year in the familiar classrooms.

“Other than missing three days, it has had no effect on students. The state waived those three days we missed, so we don’t have to make them up. Other than missing those days, I don’t think the students have noticed it at all,” Hathcock said.

The summer, however, will bring a full repair project, to the tune of $700,000.

“We’ll have it ready for next school year. By them declaring it an emergency, it speeds things up so we can get quotes, accept those and get people out here,” Hathcock said, estimating that the process will be done sometime in July.

While the school was insured, Hathcock said the district is also pursuing aid from FEMA in paying for the damages.

“We’re definitely pursuing it and hopefully we’ll get some help there, as well.”