MOBILE, Ala (WPMI) - Make Murphy better than before. That was the plea at Wednesday's school board meeting. For people who call Murphy High School home -- whether as students, teachers or both -- they wanted school officials to repair the damage from December's tornado as well as renovate the school.
They said anything less would just be a temporary fix.
"I want to commend you for what you've done so far, because you've done a great job -- no doubt about it -- but I would hope you not put a band-aid on it to repair it," one person said.
Frances Sibley expressed the importance of the school for todays students as well as generations before and after them.
"You can graduate from the finest college in the world, but there's nothing like your high school days, that's when you first began to be an adult," she said.
Her concern -- the school board may be worried it won't have enough money for Murphy and will only provide a temporary fix for the damage.
It was a notion officials contented.
"I'm not going to put a band-aid anywhere at Murphy," said Assistant Superintendent of Operations Thomas Sheffield. He vowed Murphy, at the very least, would be where it was the day before the tornado and ultimately and ready for the fall semester.
"Does it mean all the work is going to be complete, no, it means we will occupy, they will be home, bring some normalcy back to the campus and parents and we'll continue that process as far as the money and support we'll get."
Sheffield said money for renovating the school is not an option right now because of funding. He said he was working with the district's insurance adjuster to figure out what exact amount would be covered to repair storm damage. He said he would be meeting with the adjuster again on Thursday.
