Another delay at the old Park View School means the Putnam County School System will not move any Pre-K classrooms into that facility until next school year.
Changes by the Fire Marshal caused delays earlier this month. Director Of Schools Corby King said crews recently found a bigger problem.
“As they were demoing the floor tile, recently discovered some asbestos in some of the old tile that was, had been covered awhile ago,” King said. “That’s going to have to be abated before they can move forward. So those are going to impact the timeline.”
Initially, ten Pre-K classes were scheduled to move into the Early Learning Center in January, with the transition set to begin in December. King said they wanted to do a soft rollout of the facility to workout issues.
With the asbestos discovery, King said he is unsure of the new timeline for the project’s completion.
“It dosen’t look like the project is going to be completed in December, and probably not January,” King said. “So, what that will do is it’ll push us to next summer. And then just open, we hope, open fully next school year.”
King said the advantage to moving classrooms over early is similar to that of a soft opening for a resturant or a new business. He said since it is new territory, the head start would have helped everyone figure out the routines and logistics of the building.
In addition, King said opening early would have allowed procedures like lunch, parking and student drop-off to be tested and refined before the building is fully occupied.
“Just to start out small would have given us a good feel for things we need to adjust before we open fully,” King said. “But that’s not possible now, it doesn’t look like. So, if we have to open all the classrooms again, like opening a new school, new beginning, we’ve done that before.”
King said the school system has great staff and parents who are willing to be patient while the early kinks are worked out of the Early Learning Center’s processes.
King said the old Park View building will essentially be a brand new school. New floor tiles will be installed, and classrooms will feature a bathroom and new furniture. King said there are updates coming to the electrical and plumbing systems, and the doors will be replaced.
The facility will bring together pre-K students from across Cookeville, opening up classroom space in schools across the community. The school system proposed the idea as a way to delay the need for a new elementary school.
