The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will provide almost $12 million to the Tipton County Board of Education to rebuild Crestview Elementary School, U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) announced Tuesday.
Cohen represents Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District, which covers approximately half of Tipton County.
FEMA’s funding for the elementary school comes months after it announced it will also provide $17.3 million to the Tipton County Board of Education to rebuild Crestview Middle School.
In addition to FEMA’s funding for Crestview Middle School, part of the school’s restoration will be covered by an additional $10.3 million in insurance payouts, Cohen’s office noted.
Both schools were destroyed by the March 31st and April 1st tornadoes that swept through 10 Tennessee counties last year.
“The storms that devastated Covington last Spring also destroyed the city’s Crestview Elementary School, a huge loss to the community, its children and their parents and teachers. I have urged cooperation between federal, state and local officials and worked to help ensure this funding could be received. Covington needs a new Crestview Elementary School, and this federal funding will soon make rebuilding it a reality,” Cohen said in a statement.
FEMA’s more than $11 million in funding for Crestview Elementary will go towards demolishing the existing approximately 96,369 square feet of school facility as well as “rebuilding a substructure foundation wall; and replacement of interior concrete blocks, doors, windows, ceilings, floors, the sprinkler system, heating and cooling, fixtures, communication, alarm systems, internet, generator sets and furnishings for the facility,” according to Cohen’s office.
The construction of the new elementary school will also include a safe room.
Last year’s tornadoes killed at least 15 Tennesseans and damaged more than 527 structures, according to a report by the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency at the time.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Crossview Elementary” by Crestview Elementary School PTO.
