School board gives update on gym construction

Published 7:00 pm Wednesday, April 17, 2019

During Monday night’s meeting, the Troup County School Board received a brief update on the construction progress for the gymnasiums at LaGrange High School and Troup High School.

John Radcliffe, assistant superintendent of maintenance and operations, said construction at Troup High is expected to be completed by Jan. 1, 2020. The LaGrange High facility, which was started later, is likely to be completed in the spring of 2020.

“When you stand in that arena and look around, it’s just a ‘wow factor’, and we aren’t even close to done yet. It’s on budget,” Radcliffe said of the Troup High facility.

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Radcliffe said the roof is on the indoor practice field and the basketball arena at Troup High.

“Some of the work going on currently is interior work, interior block, plumbing, electrical. Some air conditioning units are even in place,” Radcliffe said.

He said a wide opening in the end of the building has been left so that concrete trucks can pump concrete in. Radcliffe said several delays, including 40 days of rain, have slowed construction, but Ra-Lin is working hard to hit the original completion date.

At LaGrange High, a lot of dirt is being moved, but there hasn’t been any building construction to this point, Radcliffe said.

Also during Monday’s work session, the school board briefly discussed several items that will be on the agenda Thursday night. Those items include the following:

4 The board is expected to vote on an update to board policy BCBI, which regulates public participation in board meetings. A second reading will be held Thursday and a vote will be held, which would make the updated policy official. The policy will in general make it less restrictive to speak at a board meeting. Anyone interested in speaking will sign a sheet at a table near the entrance to the board room. Items discussed must be on the monthly agenda. Anyone who would like to discuss an item not on the agenda must do so by writing the superintendent by noon on the Monday prior to the regular board meeting on Thursday of each month. Remarks are limited to 3 to 5 minutes.

4The board heard an update on the school improvement planning process from JoBeth Lanier, director of school improvement and assessment. Lanier broke down the process the school system is using to create its continuous improvement plan for 2020.

4The school board will vote Thursday on renewing an agreement with the Troup County Board of Commissioners and City of LaGrange for school resource officers. The county supplies resource officers at Callaway High, Callaway Middle and Long Cane Middle for a budgeted amount of $159,135. The city of LaGrange supplies resource officers at LaGrange High, Troup High, Gardner Newman Middle School and HOPE Academy for a budgeted amount of $212,180.

4The school board is also expected to vote on the purchase of 1,900 Chromebooks for phase two of the one-to-one initiative. The cost will be $1,034,900 to Virtucom. Mobile carts are also included in the purchase. The board will also vote on purchasing 900 Dell laptops to replace the existing teacher laptops that are 5 to 6 years old.