By Tara Kaprowy, Staff Writer – Sentinel -Echo

February 09, 2010

— Giant fork lifts, mounds of concrete block, and plenty of dirt is the view from four district schools this year, with $16 million being invested to renovate the structures. A total of 19 classrooms are being tacked onto Johnson, Keavy and Colony elementary schools, as well as North Laurel High School. Gym floors are being replaced at the elementary schools. Teachers are getting built-in desks. And door knobs will be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Schools will also get safer. Security entrances are being structured at all four schools so visitors must first flow through the front office before gaining access to the rest of the building. Fire sprinkler systems will also be installed in the elementary schools; when the structures were originally built — Colony and Keavy in 1958, Johnson in 1962 — they were not required.

Protection is also the goal with the new teacher desks. The cabling for all the classroom technology will be housed in these specifically-designed units, a move that is meant to limit damage. The new classrooms themselves will each be 800 square feet, much larger than the original 650-square-foot rooms that were used when the elementary schools were first built.

In addition to its expansion, North Laurel High School, built in 1992, is being renovated. The roof is being remodeled and the auditorium’s ceiling and lighting are being replaced. The auditorium should re-open in March.

The additions and renovations were based on population predictions. Johnson, Colony and NLHS are all overcrowded. Keavy had also been overcrowded, but gained some relief when students were funneled to Wyan-Pine Grove Elementary.

The projects are slated to be completed by fall.

Following is a break down of the work under way.

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