SAHS project is on track

BERNE — The principal’s new office won’t be complete by mid August. But a new secure entrance and renovated classrooms are on track to be ready for students when classes begin Aug. 14.

Phase one of the $1.7-million South Adams High School renovation project, which includes relocating the office, creating a secure entrance and renovating classrooms, is mostly on schedule midway through the construction calendar.

When the 2017-18 school year opens, visitors will be required to enter the high school via the northeast entrance. Once inside the main doors, they will need to buzz in via an intercom in order to enter the main office to the east, which will then lead into the school.

Previously, the office was located toward the center of the building, which allowed visitors to walk through the hallways without checking in.

“A secure entrance, that was one of the main objectives of this renovation,” said superintendent Scott Litwiller. “We’ve got to keep our students and staff safe.”

Construction crews were working Thursday and Friday on the new reception area, which will sit in the center of the new section of offices.

The area includes the principal’s office at the north end along with offices for the school resource officer and extracurricular treasurer. Those are not expected to be complete in time for the first day of school after workers realized they would need to reconfigure some steel support beams.

“The nice thing is we’re not doing anything with the old offices,” said Litwiller, so principal Trent Lehman and other staff will simply wait a few more weeks before making the move.

The south end of the offices will include counselors’ offices and a counseling reception area.

The bulk of the remaining work involves the classrooms on the north and east sides of the media center. Most of the drywall work was complete last week, and Litwiller said he expects carpet to begin being installed by the end of the week.

The classrooms at the northwest corner of the media center will serve as science labs, with plumbing work already completed. All classrooms will now be fully enclosed — the school was originally designed with an open concept with partial walls being added over the years — an issue that was important for the labs for safety reasons.

“It will also improve the learning environment because we have now walls that are going to go not just to the ceiling but to the underside of the roof, insulated walls to cut down on the noise,” said Litwiller.

In addition to the classroom work, the northwest and southeast ends of the media center (library) will be enclosed. That will create “collaboration areas” that can be used for students working in small groups or those who were absent and need to take a test.

Some heating, cooling and ventilation work has been part of the process, but it has been minimal as a lot of that work was done as part of a project a decade ago.

Cabinets for one of the classrooms that was added to the project will likely not be in until Sept. 1. There will also be some new furniture that will wait to be purchased until after school begins.

“I’ve just been waiting to see how many extra things pop up,” Litwiller said. “We actually have enough good furniture to move in these classrooms … Then once we get things settled and see where we’re at we’ll probably order some new furniture in the fall.”

The work, which is being funded via money saved from refinancing bonds from the 2008 bonds for the elementary/middle school construction project, is the first phase of renovations South Adams plans to complete next year. That work will include renovating the remaining classrooms, updating the media center and possibly renovating the former office area.

“It’s satisfying,” said Litwiller as he walked through the construction area Thursday. “It’s something that was even in the works or had been thought about even before I became superintendent seven years ago. But we just came off the big (elementary/middle school) project … We were able to do some things over here with that project, but not very much. To be able to do this, especially without increasing the tax rate, is satisfying.

“We’re in a position too that we can do quite a bit in 2018 without increasing the tax rate … So it’s a good position to be in.”

South Adams hired Dan Rawlins of Performance Services, which is also handling this year’s work, as the design-criteria developer for the $1.2 million 2018 portion of the project at its June meeting. It plans to vote on the funding formula — it is expected to include money from the rainy day fund, the sale of the former elementary school property, funds no longer needed for the energy savings program and already-encumbered capital projects dollars — at its July 17 meeting.