SPS reports $15M in damage from late April hailstorm

A historic hailstorm that swept through southwest Missouri in late April left Springfield Public Schools with $15 million in damages, primarily to building roofs.

The SPS Board of Education received an update about the extent of the damage during a May 19 meeting.

“The estimated amount of property and vehicle damage and loss is a little over $15 million,” said Cara Stassel, executive director of business services for SPS. “The amount that we will probably be paying out, after insurance takes care of the rest, is about $5 million.”

Travis Shaw, deputy superintendent of operations, said the hailstorm left damage at a dozen buildings with the brunt absorbed by Williams Elementary and Hillcrest High School.

He said the most costly damage was roof-related.

“When you have roof damage, you also get a lot of other things on top of that because we’ve got HVAC equipment, we’ve got ventilation, we’ve got skylights,” he said, in a May 20 interview. “There are the solid roofs, and our flat roofs and our shingled roofs – any of the metal that is up there.”

Shaw said other buildings with damage include Bissett, Bowerman, Fremont, Truman, Watkins and York elementary schools; Pleasant View and Westport K-8 buildings; Study Alternative Center; and Mallory Early Childhood Center.

“It was all in the north and northwest,” he said.

The National Weather Service in Springfield reported hail measuring the size of a baseball, and in some parts slightly larger than a grapefruit, in the city during the April 28 storm.

Shaw said SPS also estimated $165,000 in damages to district-owned vehicles.

“We had school police vehicles, wherever they were located, that had windows busted out,” he said.

Stephen Hall, chief communications officer for SPS, said district employees were quick to assess the damage and secure and protect the property.

“We’ve done those initial steps that are necessary to prevent further damage so that this next step of recovery can occur,” he said.

Shaw said repairs may take months and will happen whether students are in school buildings or not.

“You’re dealing with insurance companies, you never know how long that is going to take,” he said. “And we still have all our statutory requirements that we have to deal with, as far as bidding, and so it is going to take several months for sure.”

Stassel explained the out-of-pocket deductible of $5 million will have an impact on the overall 2027 fiscal year budget – which must be approved by June 30 – because it is expected to lower the operating reserve fund.

SPS is slated to end FY26 with a reserve fund balance of 25.1%, its lowest level since FY22. The district has built up that fund – which has dropped as low as 17% in the past decade – in recent years as a buffer against unexpected expenses, revenue shortfalls or economic downturns.

Stassel said the $5 million deductible for the hailstorm may drop the fund balance by 1.7%.

“If you did not have a large rainy day fund, and our district needs a large one because we’re a large district, that could really significantly impact your fund balance in a negative way,” she said. “Right now, we are grateful for that fund balance because that’s really what it is there for.”