The Lowndes County School District board of trustees is moving forward with a downsized plan for a new home economics classroom at West Lowndes High School.
Architect Joey Henderson, with JBHM Architects in Columbus, previously proposed to the board renovating an unused concrete building on campus to include three classrooms for home economics instruction. He estimated the cost at $300,000 to $350,000.
However, the board on Friday rejected his plan as too expensive after Superintendent Lynn Wright suggested the district could renovate part of the main building’s second floor to include the instructional space for less than $100,000.
The board approved Wright’s proposal by a 3-1 vote with Jacqueline Gray opposing. Gray said there were better areas for the project.
Board members Jane Kilgore and board member Robert Barksdale both disagreed, saying the classrooms that would be affected are not currently in use. Kilgore said she supports the project, but she doesn’t want to spend too much money on it.
“I just think it makes more business sense just to utilize it there,” she said.
Gray made a motion that Henderson return to next month’s board meeting with an abbreviated version of his own plans, but the motion died for lack of a second.
In other business, the board permitted Henderson to advertise for bids for a Caledonia Middle School renovation project.
The project is part of a $44 million bond issue voters approved in May 2015 and involved demolition and upgrades to the south side of the campus.
Henderson said he would advertise the project on Nov. 7 and 14. He will present bids to the board on Dec. 9.
The board also voted unanimously to send condolences to three New Hope High School students and one former NHHS student who were critically injured in a vehicle accident on Highway 82 West on Oct. 8. Three of the students, including driver 18-year-old Tyler Coleman, are currently at North Mississippi Medical Center where they are in stable condition. The fourth student, a 15-year-old female authorities did not identify, is in critical condition at University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson.
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