Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

New PHS Gym Construction Could Start Soon

With a little luck and some dry weather construction on the new Prescott High School gym can begin this summer.

Ron Wright, superintendent of the Prescott School District, told members of the Prescott School Board, at its regular monthly meeting Tuesday, June 20, bids for the demolition project will be opened at 2 p.m. Wednesday, June 28.

Once the bid has been let, the demolition can begin as early as July 11, he said.

At this time, he told the board, the district is still working with the architects to fine tune the gym plans, and bids for this project could be let by the end of July.

"It's getting real," Wright said.

Currently, the intercom wiring is being rerouted so it won't be cut by construction of the new gym and Reliant-Arkla has moved a gas meter in the area.

Soil tests indicate piers will be needed at a depth of 15 feet, or so, Wright said, and this is good because it will help keep construction costs on the gym down. It was originally thought the piers may have to be sank deeper for stability of the foundation.

Rico Harris, one of the architects working on the project, sent the district a material's list. Wright said the district could seek donations or sponsors to help pay for some of these items.

The list Harris sent includes: installed seating, two main basketball goals, four side goals, basketball lockers, football lockers, suspended scoreboard/clock, scoreboard/clocks at each end of the floor, installed wall pads, laundry equipment, lobby area tables and chairs and rubber flooring for the weight room.

Turning to the McRae Middle School gym project, Wright said the building for the front of the current gym, which will become its lobby, is in and will be installed when the contractor returns from vacation.

The existing front will be torn off, with a slab poured for the new entrance. The exterior of the lobby will be sandstone colored to match the rest of the gym and give the appearance of it looking like one structure.

The new sign is up at the middle school, proclaiming it as McRae Middle School.

At Prescott Elementary, Wright said, the ceilings have been lowered and the lighting is mostly done.

But, he said, a new leak has developed on another part of the McRae Middle School building where Principal Jim Gober's office is.

A check of the problem showed rot under some of the soffit and fascia.

The soffit and fascia was repaired by BAC II Construction, with the board approving a bid from Hostetler Roofing to do the rest of the repairs and painting. This job will cost $20,979.

The board approved the purchase of a new 71 passenger bus from Ward. The bus will have a diesel engine and under floor storage as it will be used as a trip bus for student activities.

The bus bid was $46,530 in all.

Next on the expenditure list was the purchase of a new mower for the school grounds.

The board went with a John Deere 455 series diesel mower with a 60-inch cutting deck.

This mower will be shaft driven, instead of belt driven, which should help extend its working life.

With the discount from Southwest Arkansas Equipment in Hope, the mower will cost the district $8,800. It normally retails for $11,000.

Pearl Bailey, representing the Prescott District Education Association (PDEA), gave the board an update on the summer school program.

There are 26 students in summer school this year, though not all were failing a class. In some cases, the students wanted to do the extra work to bring up their grade point averages.

The focus of the summer session is on math, language arts and reading.

Students are given pre and post math tests to see where their strengths and weaknesses are, along with how they progressed during the session.The students also work on character education to help them overcome or change negative behaviors or attitudes, she said.

Classes run from 7:30 a.m. until noon, with the day beginning in the computer lab. From there the students rotate around to the other classes.

One of the requirements for getting in summer school, Bailey said, is the students must have a valid Nevada County library card. This is because they are required to do book reports during the program.

As the meeting wound down, the board approved a budget for the year 2001-2002, along with the purchase of textbooks for PHS and PES.

Personnel issues included the accepting of resignations from girls basketball coach Bill Cossey, driver Jerry Smith, band director Jonathan Kelly and teacher's aides Rachel Wright and Kristi Webb.

The board hired Kelly Murry for special education, Agnes Morrow as an instructor at MMS, Linda Benton for Family and Consumer Science and Jody Cowart as the new girls basketball coach.