Construction projects for the Escambia County School System are moving along, school board members learned at a Thursday special called meeting.
Currently the ESCBOE has projects going on at Rachel Patterson Elementary School, Flomaton High School, and W.S. Neal High School.
In a special called meeting Thursday for the Escambia County Board of Education, board members and superintendent John Knott heard a budget hearing and updates on the projects.
Chief financial officer Julie Madden said while the projects have cost “a lot of money… we have spent it wisely. We are not wasting money. We know where it is going.”
Work at WSN is about 35 percent complete.
“We are moving forward,” Superintendent John Knott said. “They have received most of the exterior brick. It will be a couple of weeks and we will start seeing some exterior walls going up. It is really starting to take shape. It is exciting to see those kind of things.”
The 2015 Capital Plans (five-year plan) for the ECBOE include 19 priorities to 10 pieces of property.
At RPES, the current HVAC project is 94 percent complete as of July 23 and the re-roofing project was said to be at 98 percent complete as of June 13.
“At Flomaton, I have had so many people tell me that has been a remarkable renovation,” Madden said. “It has totally changed the look at the school.”
As of Sept. 30, it is 98 percent complete. ECBOE still owes A.E. New, Jr., Inc. $155,812.14 and a balance to architect McKee and Associates with 94 percent complete.
“At W.S. Neal High School, it is 35 percent complete,” Madden said. “We went on a tour last week, and it is really starting to take shape. We still owe Rod Cooke Construction $9,653,310.47. To date we have saved $209,890.91 in sales tax savings. We owe McKee and Associates $124,309.22.”
Knott was pleased with how construction was going at the schools.
“Our Rachel Patterson jobs are basically done,” Knott said. “We are just having to get the three systems of the HVAC working at the same time to make it work. We are very close to being complete. The roofing project is pretty much complete.”
Knott said at Flomaton, they installed seating in the auditorium last week and it looks great.
“We have some painting touchups that need to be done in the interior and a curtain that has to be ordered,” he said. “On the exterior, we had some issues that needed to be fixed near the top of the building due to some metal mesh protruding out. They will come back with a sealant, but that is two weeks out. We are where we can start using the new auditorium. It is fabulous though. They did a good job. The lobby is very inviting. We use that auditorium county-wide for functions.”
Locally, W.S. Neal Elementary School is scheduled to get a roofing job (2015) and land improvements (2017) while W.S. Neal Middle School is scheduled to get electrical work (2015) and roofing (2019).
“We sit down with our maintenance departments each year,” Knott said. “We talk about problems that need to be addressed and then we prioritize. That’s why you don’t see all the schools listed. Those needs change…sometimes during the year, which leads to changes.”