Two years after the derailment, East Palestine City Schools look beyond the events of Feb. 3, 2023 and re-focus on preparing its students for the future. Shown here, the East Palestine Class of 2037 enjoy reading time in the library as Lara Buelow shares a book with kindergarten Bulldogs. (Photo by Stephanie Elverd)

Two years after the Norfolk Southern train derailment, East Palestine schools is doing what it has always done — focusing on the future.

“Our primary goal is to always prepare every student for future success, whether that is through continuing their education, entering the workforce, or enlisting in the military,” Superintendent James Rook said. “We are dedicated and focused on providing the best possible support to both our students and staff.”

That support transcends the classroom and was immediately bolstered after the train derailed. Following the derailment, the district put a team of 18 counselors in place — six in each of the school buildings — to help the students process woes and worries left behind in the wake, but the demand for those counselors waned faster than expected and the students showed incredible buoyancy. Rook sees it more as determination than durability.

“It hasn’t been as much about our students bouncing back, but rather how they have stayed focused and determined,” he said. “As a whole, our students showed such resilience and strength during a time when they faced an unimaginable event in their lives. They have actively engaged in establishing their roles as valuable contributors to the community’s growth efforts.”

Two years later, the students are displaying the same resolve but, when needed, that steadfast support, which also transcends the events of Feb. 3, 2023, is there.

“The school district has joined forces with Insight Clinical Counseling & Wellness to provide the opportunity for in-school mental health and counseling services to students, whether related to the derailment or not,” Rook said. “Offering this access eliminates some of the barriers to receiving such mental health services.”

The district is also making progress on its on-site health clinics.

In November, East Palestine Board of Education reported that engineering on a new in-school health clinic and renovations on existing ones were expected to get underway in the next few weeks. The funding for the in-school services, which are not meant to replace a student’s general practitioner but rather support healthcare systems already in place and ensure equitable health services, has nothing to do with the derailment. The clinics were funded through the Appalachian Community Grant Program’s Appalachian Children’s Health Initiative. East Palestine and Crestview shared in $488,196 of the allocated $7.5 million for the development and expansion of school-based health centers across Ohio. Rook said the clinic will also offer telehealth services to East Palestine students.

While the clinics came from state funding, the district has received financial boosts as a direct cause of the derailment including an initial $300,000 donation as well as other contributions from the railroad. Still, most of the money received from Norfolk Southern was not a windfall for East Palestine Schools. It was reimbursement for damages caused by the rail disaster. Nearly $40,000 of the $300,000 was set aside for the athletic department to help the Bulldogs recoup revenue like lost ticket and concession stand sales when the district was forced to cancel sporting events in late winter and spring of 2023. Over $200,000 remains to be spent on public-led initiatives. Norfolk also paid out $100,000 for track cleaning and repairing, $75,000 to repair the elementary school parking lot that was damaged during the derailment response and $100,000 for costs accrued during online learning necessary following the disaster. Even the $750,000 from the railroad to cover the salary of a Communications and Marketing Supervisor position at the school for several years, was spent to help shake off any stigma that the derailment cast over the town and, by proxy, the schools.

Potential stigma was a real cause for concern. The district was unsure what the full impact of the derailment would be on its school system, though there was speculation. Enrollment could take a hit. Property values — Ohio schools rely almost exclusively on property tax dollars to operate — could plummet. So far, the derailment has had little impact on the enrollment. Numbers are comparable to where they were in 2022. According to rocket.com, the median market value of homes from December 2023 to December 2024 have fallen 2.1% within the village but increased by 8.9% within Unity Township.

The numbers reflect the town as a whole is bouncing back, but it doesn’t mean everyone in the village has returned to pre-derailment normalcy. Rook is cognizant that some families within the district are still struggling to overcome the events that unfolded in February of 2023. For those students, the school can be a refuge — a safe space the district is proud to provide no matter what unique circumstance a student may face.

“As a school district, we are here as a source of stability within the community,” Rook said. “Day in and day out, our focus is on the overall well-being of our students and staff, creating avenues for each to evolve and feel secure.”

Evolution and healing looks different for every student as do those avenues they choose to take and the road to recovery can mean making a difference. Some East Palestine students have advocated for the community in the wake of the derailment, calling on medical monitoring and the enactment of Social Security Act 1881a — a little-known clause in the Affordable Care Act that grants free Medicare to citizens exposed to environmental disasters. Late last year, Rook discussed a collaboration with Team Workforce, Humtown Industry and East Palestine students as part of the Railway Hero Program in the development of a patented railway sensor that would have prevented the derailment. He also said the district is working on an EPA Air Quality Grant (along with the Shale Academy and the Columbiana County Career and Tech Center) as well as a grant with Gardner to study and improve HVAC efficiency through the Ohio Department of Development Energy Savings Grant.

The district has also been heavily involved in the village’s pots-derailment economic recovery . The Rural Community Assistance Program (RCAP), which assists rural communities and underserved populations in developing and maintaining community infrastructure, and the East Palestine Think Tank have sought student ideas in the village’s re-branding and revitalization. RCAP wants feedback from the generation who will lead the village in decades to come. That partnership is ongoing. Student ideas will be implemented in the village’s economic plans.

The district also continues to foster leaders of tomorrow with programs like the Principal’s Advisory Council and Chick-fil-A Leadership Academy. This year, the district launched its Bulldog PRIDE Leadership Program.

East Palestine students haven’t been afraid and jump and do the work when it comes to making a difference. Last spring, EPMS Student Advisory Council and other middle school students helped Threshold Residential Services renovate its Community Sensory Garden on West Taggart Street. They painted garden beds and planted seeds among other tasks.

East Palestine City Schools also re-started Dog Days in 2024. The annual day of volunteerism to complete beautifying projects within the village was suspended due to COVID, but officially resumed last spring. Student volunteers rolled up their sleeves and took on a variety of projects including painting, planting and weeding alongside residents.

During the holidays, East Palestine students sold special ‘Brighten Our Future’ ornaments and cash prize raffle tickets to help raise $161,500 in funds for the village’s East Palestine Community Improvement Corporation (EPCIC) — a group that promotes prosperity in the village.

Sometimes, students really do become the teachers, and East Palestine students have taught by example in the two years since the train derailed. Those lessons have been many with an often recurring one — life, though changed, goes on in East Palestine.

As tough as the derailment was tough to go through — the school shut down, an evacuation was ordered and families became displaced — the tenacity of district students prevailed.

East Palestine Schools still faces lingering impacts of the derailment, as well as fiscal difficulties — like most small Ohio districts do — and, of course, nonderailent-related discord like the near-teacher strike that was averted late last year but also it hasn’t lost sight of its purpose, its potential or its perseverance — another example set by East Palestine students.

“Our students’ strength, resilience, and overall pride for the community of East Palestine is remarkable,” Rook said.

selverd@mojonews.com