After seeing photos of the congestion in the halls of Lowndes High School circulate on social media, officials want to assure parents and students that steps have already been taken to remedy the situation.

From Lowndes County Schools:

“The Lowndes County School System is aware of the hallway photos that circulated. Keep in mind these photos were a glimpse of the first day of school, which means 3,000 students were learning to navigate a new building and locate classrooms at Lowndes High School while the campus remains under construction and renovation. 

System level administrators and Lowndes High School administrators met with JCI Contractors Senior Project Manager Jared Hall. At this time, the decision was made to expedite the installation of a second major thoroughfare to alleviate congestion. Therefore, JCI will immediately begin work to connect a sidewalk from the north stairwell of the main building to E wing, creating a second walkway across campus while maintaining barriers to the construction zone. Upon completion, student traffic flow will be re-assessed. In addition, LHS administrators are working with interior student traffic flow patterns to assist students in identifying the most efficient routes during class change while avoiding congestion. 

This morning LCS system administrators, LHS administrators, JCI Contractors, McCall & Associates Architecture, and Lowndes County Sheriff’s Department met with the City of Valdosta Fire Chief Brian Boutwell, Fire Marshall James Clinkscales, and Fire Inspector Dereck Willis. This collaborative effort evaluated the current situation and the upcoming plans. All parties agreed these modifications were sufficient to provide a safe environment for staff and students, which is everyone’s priority. The plan that is in motion is to be completed within the next week, at which time the team will progress monitor the activities to determine the next steps. 

Please understand that this will be a process while we remain under construction. We will continue working diligently to address traffic flow and always make student safety our number one priority.”