The Jackson County School Board is seeking bids to refurbish the gym floor at Dodson Branch Elementary.
Dodson Branch Elementary Principal Brian Lee said the gym floor has been touched up but has not been refurbished since it was first installed back in 2012. Jackson County Director of Schools Jason Hardy said thirteen years without a refurbishment has been long enough.
“It’s about that time, we try to go year by year and look at each school and what needs to be done,” Hardy said. “Recently, we have done the high school and the middle school, so it’s kind of the rotation time for Dodson Branch and he (Lee) made a comment ‘it’s in really great shape if you walked in there,’ but just a little upgrade to it and make sure that we can continue to use for the next few years.”
Hardy said the plan is to sand down and repaint the gym floor. Hardy said the goal is to have the gym floor refurbished over the summer break.
“We want to have it finished before next school year,” Hardy said. “You know, summer is a great time to get projects finished, and this will be one that we will do our best to get finished before our kids come back in August.”
Hardy said he is not sure what to expect when it comes to the potential cost for refurbishing the gym floor.
“We think it could be anywhere from $15,000-$25,000, I’m not sure,” Hardy said. “It’s been a while since I have actually been involved with a gym floor and I don’t know, I don’t have a great guess on that of course, that’s why we are kind of putting it out there with all of the specifications and kind of see what it is but we are hoping that you know, we wanna get the right people and we want to do it right so we will have to see once we get the bids in.”
Hardy said the goal is to award a bid at the May meeting. The school board is also seeking bids to repair a portion of the fence at Gainesboro Elementary.
Hardy said the fence is behind the school and that most of the fence is in great shape, except for one section. Hardy said the portion of the fence that is deteriorating is close to the playground and that the school board wants to make sure kids are safe while playing. Hardy said the goal is to replace the fence over the summer as well.
