Palmetto High has a flooding problem. Solutions haven’t come easily

Students have trudged through flooded walkways at Palmetto High School for years — even decades, perhaps. The school board will convene on Friday afternoon to discuss the flooding issues and possible solutions.

“Just having wet shoes throughout the day is terrible,” said Vincent Plank, a student who described the school as a “water park.”

Palmetto High is the first of several topics on the agenda for Friday’s board workshop, scheduled for noon at the School Support Center, 215 Manatee Avenue W. The board will hear from Mike Pendley, executive planner for the school district, along with John Foley, of Foley/Kolarik Inc.

The company of engineers, surveyors and planners is based in Palmetto, less than 2 miles from the high school.

Gina Messenger, the board chair and a longtime resident of Manatee County, said it was common knowledge that Palmetto High suffered from a drainage issue for decades. She said the district recently commissioned an engineering study, and that problems, solutions and costs would be discussed on Friday afternoon.

“I can’t say how we got to this point and why something wasn’t done in the past,” she said. “I think every board has tried different things. I know the district, when these concerns were first brought up, they cleaned every single drain. There’s been a lot of problem solving happening, but it’s gotten to a level that we need more expertise.”

Messenger represents all of the schools in District 1, including Palmetto High. She said flooded walkways were a safety concern for students, and she hoped to finally arrive at a long-term solution at Friday’s meeting.

“There were a multitude of solutions,” she said. “One was adding retention ponds to different areas. One was paving different things, another was taking out the old buildings since they were the lowest lying.”

Based on her understanding of the engineering study, Messenger said the oldest buildings sat on the lowest ground. As time went on, each new building was constructed on a higher plain, causing the flooding issues.

“That makes perfect sense to me because over time the building codes have raised the elevation,” said Palmetto Mayor Shirley Groover Bryant. “It’s a recurring problem, and it’s just exacerbated with it all being on one campus.”

The mayor said she heard from teachers who swept water out of their classrooms on several occasions. As a Palmetto resident and a taxpayer, Bryant felt the issue was personal.

“That’s the only public high school we have,” she said. “It’s very important to us. It deserves more attention and more care.”

This story was originally published January 16, 2020 at 3:59 PM.