COLORADO SPRINGS — Colorado Springs School District 11 (D11) sent a letter to families Monday saying a preliminary structural analysis for Jenkins Middle School is complete.
Jensen Hughes, the engineering firm D11 hired for its preliminary structural analysis, recommended the following areas be repaired, or removed and replaced in their report:
- Gym
- Fitness center
- Locker rooms
- Music
- Mechanical room
- Consumer & Family Studies Room
- Western wall of the media center
- Seventh-grade wing
- Eighth-grade wing
You can read the report below or by clicking here:
D11 sent the following statement to parents regarding the report on Monday:
"District 11 remains committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of our students and staff while working toward a long-term solution for Jenkins Middle School.
Jensen Hughes has submitted its structural engineering report, which has been shared with the Colorado Springs Fire Department as part of our ongoing partnership to ensure safety at Jenkins Middle School. The report assesses structural conditions and identifies areas that need to be repaired, removed, or replaced before students can safely return.
As part of our commitment to acting swiftly and strategically, we have been proactively engaging with construction firms through a competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) process. We will complete the selection process and bring a construction firm on board by this Friday. This partner will help us determine the best path forward, including cost estimates and a projected timeline for remediation.
It is important to note that student and staff safety has always been our top priority. While we have worked closely with fire and safety officials throughout this process, the formal assessment by Jensen Hughes provides the critical technical analysis needed to guide next steps.
Our priority remains providing a safe and stable learning environment for Jenkins students and staff. In the meantime, we will continue to support our students at their current location and keep families informed throughout the process."
The school shut down abruptly last month after fire investigators said it was unsafe. Since then, students have been relocated to other schools for the rest of the school year.
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News5 Investigates learned a structural analysis was complete in 2022, which included 150 photos of damage in the school.
You can read that report below or by clicking here:
A building analysis in the preliminary report was completely redacted by the district. News5 asked D11 for an interview about the report last week.
You can read a response from D11 Communications Jessica Wise, Executive Director of Engagement below:
"At this time, we are holding off on interviews until the release of the newest report from Jensen Hughes, which we anticipate within the week. We believe this report will provide key insights and clarification, and once it is available, we will be happy to address any questions. The report will be shared publicly, and we look forward to providing additional context at that time."
We even provided questions, which is not typical in our news gathering process. Those questions included the following:
- How often are these structural analyses done at schools? (are they ordered as needed, is there a set schedule etc.)
- What was the accidental flooding in 1999 mentioned in the letter?
- Were additional geotechnical investigations done after this analysis in 2022?
- When was the last time a soil test/geotechnical test done?
- The assessment attachment on this has been redacted, can you shed light on what was found?
The engineering firm that conducted the analysis recommended soil testing. The analysis also said there was "accidental flooding" in the building shortly after the school opened.
We did not get out answers from the district, but we did hear from a former employee from Bassett Construction in Pueblo who worked on the building in the 1990s.
News5 confirmed through Bassett Construction's website that they were the contractor on the school. Russ Cortez, a former employee, says he remembers the flooding happened in the summer just before the school opened.
Cortez says his whole family made the drive up to Colorado Springs to help clean up the water. With Jenkins Middle School making headlines in the last month, Cortez believes the incident isn't being talked about enough with the issues at the school.
"I was kind of surprised that nobody from administration had ever said that, 'hey, we had an issue prior to the school opening up,' it was just kind of surprising that nobody had ever mentioned any of that," said Cortez.
This is a developing story. News5 is working through the latest structural analysis and we will update this web story as we learn more.
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