serious structural defects atMeeker’s $17.9 million elemen­tary school and more minor is­sues at six other Coloradoschools.

“We stand behind the build­ings we build, and when thereare findings like this, whererecommendations are prudent,we follow the recommendationout of an abundance of cau­tion,” Andy Boian, a spokesmanfor Neenan, said Thursday.

Neenan already has madefixes to a section of the roof thatwasn’t designed to handle snowloads at the 190­student Sargentschool and put in temporarysupports in the library to shoreup a beam, officials said.

Compton said the problemsare wearing on the community,which passed a bond for theproject, as well as faculty andstaff preparing for Colorado Stu­dent Assessment Program tests.

“Schools today are into somepretty high­stakes testing, andyou all want student achieve­ment at the top of your list,” hesaid. “And I’m spending an aw­ful lot of time on constructionright now.”

The review found a long spanof roof joists over the gym andauditorium lack adequate con­nections where they bear onprecast concrete wall panels,Jirsa Hedrick wrote in a letter toNeenan on Monday.

“Effective immediately, untilthis repair is complete, the en­tire school building should notbe used if the winds are expect­ed to exceed 25 miles per hour,”the letter stated.

The full review is not com­plete.

The repair calls for the joiststo be welded to plates in thepanels.

If winds hit 25 mph beforethat happens, school will becanceled in advance or studentswill be evacuated to an old gymacross the street and their par­ents will be contacted to pickthem up, Compton said.

Winds at an airport in Alamo­sa, about 18 miles from MonteVista, regularly exceed 25 mph,reaching as high as 54 mph sus­tained and gusting up to 75mph, according to the NationalWeather Service.

“We have winds like theocean has water,” Comptonsaid.

He said the building hasshown no signs of stress be­cause of high winds.

The school opened in fall 2010and was built with a $17.6 milliongrant from the state’s BuildingExcellent Schools Today pro­gram, as well as a local match.

After the problems in Meeker,a Colorado Department of Edu­cation official said he requestedNeenan contract with firms tocarry out independent reviewsof 15 schools it designed andbuilt through the grant program— and Neenan agreed. The re­views are ongoing.

Eric Gorski: 303­954­1971or egorski@denverpost.com

«FROM 1A

SCHOOL:

EmbattledNeenan Co.to pay forits repairs

By Dan Freedman Hearst Newspapers

washington» The U.S. governmentis attempting to harden the U.S.­Canadaborder against drug trafficking, especial­ly through remote Indian reservations,according to its new northern borderdrug strategy to be released today.

A year in the making, the “NationalNorthern Border CounternarcoticsStrategy” pinpoints six tribal areas di­rectly on the 4,000 miles of border be­tween Washington and Maine, including

the St. Regis Mohawk reservation in up­state New York, and 24 reservations onthe Great Lakes or close to the border,including nine in Washington.

“Drug smugglers have been known toseek out tribal jurisdictions in order tosmuggle illegal drugs into the UnitedStates,” the report said.

It singles out the St. Regis Mohawkreservation in far northern FranklinCounty, N.Y., as a border location “beingused by a number of large­scale traffick­ing organizations to facilitate smugglingactivities.” Local authorities havetracked drug loads moving throughFranklin County to 31 states.

Overlapping federal, state, local andtribal jurisdictions and the rugged ter­

rain have created “unique challenges”for law enforcement countering smug­glers who specialize in bringing acrosshighly potent, indoor­grown marijuana.

Although tribal communities employtheir own police forces, resources tocombat sophisticated traffickers oftenare “inadequate,” the strategy said.

The strategy document commits theU.S. government to helping tribal policeforces add personnel and upgradedequipment, as well as improving coordi­nation with agents from U.S. law en­forcement agencies such as the Drug En­forcement Administration and Immigra­tion and Customs Enforcement.

The report praised increased levels ofcooperation between Canadian and U.S.

law enforcement, and also called for:B Efforts to “deconflict” intelligence

sharing so agencies avoid “miscommu­nication.”B Enhanced inter­agency task forces

and more outreach to border­region lo­cals “who can serve as law enforce­ment’s eyes and ears in remote areas.”B More high­tech monitoring systems

and air­marine operations to help lawenforcement, especially in wintermonths when traffickers move drugs onsnowmobiles across frozen lakes.B Improved joint operations with Cana­

da to disrupt production of marijuana andthe drug “ecstasy,” and improved cross­border cooperation on undercover opera­tions and electronic eavesdropping.

U.S. targets drug trafficking via CanadaAgencies create a strategy toharden border regions withinremote Indian reservations.

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10A» NEWS , 20, 2012 B . B 6