Mo. school opens cafeteria in FEMA shelter

MONETT, Mo. — The new cafeteria to serve students at Monett Middle School and Monett Intermediate School opened Monday morning on schedule. Crews for Pierce Electric worked into Sunday afternoon completing connections and the cafeteria staff labored cleaning their new facility to have stations ready for serving breakfast on Monday morning.

Superintendent Brad Hanson, who came to watch sixth graders begin receiving lunch on Monday, said the rush to move the cafeteria into the new FEMA shelter almost went without a problem.

"The stain did not take on the concrete," Hanson said. "[General contractor] RE Smith is studying the situation to see why. It will probably be summer before they can grind the floor and do it over again."

The floor was clean despite a dusty appearance. A representative from the Barry County Health Department was on hand to inspect proceedings. Construction crews still circled the area working on a ceiling fan.

Intermediate school principal Peg Bryan observed that serving breakfast went easily on Monday morning. Hanson wanted to watch the process, which now had two lines instead of two cashiers and one line, to see how much more quickly the process would work.

The FEMA shelter, built between the old cafeteria and the E.E. Camp gymnasium, serves a double function as a new cafeteria and auditorium. Hanson said the cafeteria space is at least one-third larger than the old one. The kitchen is almost one-third larger.