$2.5M will renovate NCES restrooms
A $2.5 million bid was accepted recently by the Neshoba County School Board to totally renovate restrooms in three buildings at Neshoba Central Elementary School.
Phase 1 of a three-phase project will also include new heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems in the high school gym and old physical education gym.
The project will be paid for with federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds which address the impact of COVID-19 on schools.
The funds are part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act passed by Congress.
Neshoba County Superintendent of Education Lundy Brantley said ESSER funds can only be used “to prevent, prepare for and respond to COVID-19. It all addresses airflow and cleanliness.”
Restrooms in the first, second and fourth grade buildings at the elementary school will be totally renovated.
The second-grade building dates back to the 1960s and includes the original restrooms, Brantley said.
Neshoba Central Elementary School Principal Tiffany Plott could not be more excited for the project to get underway.
“The second-grade building was built around 1963 and nothing has been done to the student, teachers and guest restrooms since then,” she said.
“We are really in great need to get this update. Plans are to get touchless faucets and automatic flush toilets. This will help in keeping things clean and sanitized. Not so many people will be touching the same areas of the restroom anymore.”
She noted that almost 1,500 people use the restrooms every day at the elementary school.
The restroom project is expected to be completed by July 30 while the gym project should be finished by the end of August.
Burks-Mordecai Builders, Inc. of Columbus was awarded the contract for $2,566,000.
Phase 2 of the overall ESSER project is expected to get underway in the fall with additional HVAC, new windows, new exterior doors and additional restroom renovations.
“Phase 2 will be doing things that minimally disrupt the educational environment because it will be during the school year,” Dr. Brantley said.
Phase 3 will get underway in the summer of 2022 and include additional HVAC and window replacements at the elementary.
“People have asked what we plan to do with our ESSER money and I quickly tell them,” Brantley said. “We have been wanting to and planning to do this for a while. As soon as Congress passed this in December, we started working on it.”
He noted that the new HVAC systems in the two gyms will provide much needed air circulation in wake of COVID-19. Neither presently are air conditioned.
“We are really excited about that. It is something we’ve wanted to do for a while,” he said.
The first phase of work was approved by the Mississippi Department of Education.
Other bids considered by the School Board were $2,639,000 by J & J Contractors, Inc., $2,683,000 by Ralph McKnight & Son Construction, Inc., and $3,078,400 by Perry Construction Company.