Hail damage to Round Rock schools put at $70M

Round Rock school district officials say a hailstorm Sept. 25 caused an estimated $70 million in damage to 62 facilities, and that it could take years to make all of the repairs.

After inspecting the buildings, officials said most of the damage was to roofs. Along with the administration building, district officials identified Round Rock High School, Chisolm Trail Middle School, and Wells Branch and Brushy Creek elementaries as needing immediate repairs.

District documents show the damage will be covered under its insurance, which has a 2% deductible per building. Superintendent Hafedh Azaiez said that means the district will have to pay about $1.4 million.

Dennis Covington, the chief financial officer, said Round Rock High suffered the worst damage.

District officials said repairing those five facilities will cost approximately $22 million, and that once those repairs are complete, work on the remaining buildings will begin.

Officials said it could take up to three years to repair all the damage caused by the storm. Covington said that in the meantime, the district’s maintenance team has made temporary fixes.

“A lot of it’s going to be due to materials, staffing for the repair companies, and they try to do most of the work when the kids aren’t in the building,” Covington said when asked why it will take three years to repair the damage.

“You probably have to schedule each section of the building, especially over at Round Rock (High School) because a lot of the buildings — not all of the buildings, but most of the buildings — need an entire roof replacement, and you can’t have kids in there,“he said during a Nov. 16 board meeting.

JAY JANNER/AMERICAN-STATESMAN Hail-damaged cars sit on the lot at Kia of Round Rock on Sept. 25 after a destructive storm the night before. Officials say the storm caused $70 million in damage to Round Rock school district facilities.