ATWOOD, Kan. (KSNW) – Excavators are ripping the Rawlins County Jr./Sr. High School to pieces one a year after an intentionally set fire caused extensive damage.

On June 5, 2023, a fire was set at the Rawlins County Jr./Sr. High School. The fire took hours to bring under control and injured 10 firefighters.

Two juveniles were arrested and found guilty of aggravated arson and attempted arson.

After working with their insurance company, an evaluation showed that the building could not be saved.

“The engineer who looked at it reviewed it was afraid if the main building collapsed, then they could kind of cascade into the rest of the building, so it really wasn’t safe to have anybody in it,” said Rawlins County School District Superintendent Eric Stoddard.

Demolition began June 10, and heavy demolition began last week.

“The top two, the main level and the second floor, are probably 85-90% complete. They’ll be still on site. There’s a lot of sorting through, at least through; I would plan on the middle of August before they’re done with that, and they have to take out the basement as well,” said Stoddard.

The students have been learning in classrooms in multiple buildings throughout the year, but insurance is only paying for them through August 2025.

“We started the school year off really until February at the Methodist Church, which is across the street from the elementary school, so we kind of had a hybrid campus where we had a couple classrooms in the elementary school, the majority in the church. We have an agricultural shop and woodshop up on the high school campus, so they were there as well,” said Stoddard.

Kansas State Fire Marshal investigating arson in Garden City

The district says students have adapted well.

“The way we handled it is we had to do what we had to do, and our staff was great, our kids were great,” said Stoddard. “They’ve really stepped up. Teachers, students, our community, and I can’t be prouder of the way we’ve handled it, and we’ll just have to keep doing that.”

Next month, voters are deciding whether to approve a $29.9 million bond to replace the school.
They are also voting on a 1% sales tax to offset the property tax increase that comes with the bond. The vote will be held on Aug. 6.

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