New Cleveland High Gym Completion Pushed Back 6 Days Due To Rainy Weather

  • Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Earlier rainy weather has pushed back the promised completion date for the new Cleveland High School gymnasium by six days.

The new date is March 2.

Architect Brian Templeton said the rain caused delays in roofing and concrete work.

But he said much of the roof is now complete, so rain will no longer be a construction factor.

He said inside structural work is ongoing and some finishing work has started.

The Cleveland School Board approved spending an extra $9,300 to add opaque rubberized sheets on the inside of windows at the gym so that audio-visual presentations will not be marred by window light.

The windows will still appear as clear glass on the outside, it was stated.

Jon Souders said the broadcast department at Cleveland High School was named tops in the nation at a recent convention.

Students at CHS have their own news program each morning five days a week.

Student crews also carry out live stream broadcasts of many school sporting events. Mr. Souders said the crew employs 6-8 cameras and features two commentators and a field reporter.

Officials discussed problems with the deteriorating high school track and water runoff that pours off bleachers into the track and football field. An effort will be made to fix the runoff problem prior to tackling the track makeover.

It was noted that $250,000 was spent on the track eight years ago, but it is sloping inward at several points.

The dirt at the site was inadequate for a firm surface, the board was told.

There are also needs at the Cleveland Middle School track. One estimate for repairs was $93,000 and another was $83,900, but with just a one-year warranty.

Cleveland High School principal Autumn O'Bryan said new football coach Scott Cummings has made a number of improvements in the program, including rearranging the interior of the field house and cleaning under the gym stands. The latter area will be used for storage for the various sports.

Bradley Concrete is donating $6,000 worth of concrete to pave under the stands.

She said one need is for new lockers, saying they are old and were designed for basketball, not football. The cost would be around $40,000.

Dr. Martin Ringstaff presented the new school system annual report, which lists city school spending at $40,547,000. It is now up to over $43 million due to growth.

The city schools are up 55 students at the 10th-day enrollment.

There are over 400 teachers in the Cleveland Schools.

Board members were introduced to new teachers to the system at the opening of the meeting.

Dr. Ringstaff said the make-up of students is 66 percent white, 16.14 percent Hispanic and 14.8 percent black.

He said the number of Hispanic students is continually rising. It was at just three percent in 2005.

The board voted to approve offering school personnel a fourth option for healthcare insurance. A consultant said the limited PPO can bring savings to both the school system and employees even after buying gap insurance to cover special needs.

But the policy has some exemptions so it is not for everyone, he said.

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