Renovations to West Limestone High School are officially in the design phases, with construction currently expected to begin next summer, according to officials.

The Limestone County Board of Education voted to approve an owner/architect agreement during its June 8 meeting to move forward with remodeling bathrooms, placing new floor tile in the hallways, and replacing ceiling tiles. According to Steve Wallace, Limestone County Schools’ director of maintenance, the renovations will also include addressing the “front aesthetics” of the school.

It’s “several little renovations and upgrades to the existing school,” he said.

West Limestone was the site of a separate renovation project last year, in which classrooms left over from the high school’s days as a K-12 campus and deemed hazardous to current students or staff were demolished.

Because the school’s next project is still in the design phase, Wallace said he wasn’t sure how long it would take to complete once construction begins. In the meantime, LCS is focusing on a front office addition at Tanner Elementary that will include a principal’s office, counselor’s office, conference room and reception area, plus roofing projects at Owens Elementary and the Limestone County Career Technical Center.

Other business

In other business, LCBOE members approved the following June 8:

• Use of the East Limestone High baseball field by The 5 Man baseball team June 9–July 31 for travel baseball practice;

• East Limestone Youth Football Association creating its own fields at Creekside Elementary/Primary;

• Creekside Elementary students visiting Washington, D.C., Oct. 19–23;

• East Limestone Jr. Beta Club students traveling Nov. 9–13 to New York City and Boston;

• Elkmont High girls basketball team traveling June 16–17 for summer team camp;

• Tanner High band traveling May 4–8, 2022, to Orlando for performance and educational opportunities at Disney World;

• One retirement, three resignations, one custodial contract, a new teacher unit, 26 employee transfers, 12 new hires, 14 ESSER hires, two leaves of absence, two SOAR hires, seven employee stipends and one volunteer coach contract;

• One-time stipend of $500 for employees who complete Early Childhood LETRS, Elementary LETRS or Administrator LETRS training;

• Renewal of absence and substitute management software (Aesop) from Frontline Education;

• Renewal of contract with Alabama Supercomputer Authority to continue receiving content filtering services from ASA and certify LCS’ compliance with the Children’s Internet Protection Act;

• Accepting $40,000 grant from No Kid Hungry Foundation to the Child Nutrition Program;

• English Learner Department’s purchase of 100 Chromebooks;

• One-time stipend of $100 per day for nine-month employees who are asked to attend professional development during Summer 2021;

• Replacing CNP’s current point of sale system with Heartland Mosaic, effective 2021-2022 school year;

• Purchasing classroom furniture, resources, curriculum and supplies for the new Cedar Hill pre-K class; and

• LCCTC’s purchases of appliances for the Elkmont High FACS department and of pneumatic and hydraulic trainers for the the modern manufacturing department.

Visit bit.ly/LCBOEagenda for the complete agenda, including a detailed list of personnel actions.