The School Board took a tour of their new facility, now under construction, south of the Junior High building on Bulldog Drive.  Everyone gathered Monday afternoon, donned hard hats, and had a guided tour by Director of Student Learning Karen Squires.

Initial reaction by this reporter is the place is very large and spacious compared to the present Central Office.  Second reaction is that the contractors have made tremendous progress in a very short time.  Third reaction is that the day-to-day work of administering the parish school system will be expedited with everything and everyone in one place.

Squires led the way down halls and through rooms that have the studs but no drywall yet.  First stop was a large entrance lobby with space to display artifacts from the current building and the system over the decades.  She walked us through the new board room and explained the new conveniences and flexibility to accommodate many more folks at board meetings.

The need for a larger board room was made apparent just a couple of hours after the tour.  At the regular June Board Meeting Monday night there was standing room only, plus there were folks out in the halls at the present building.

At the conclusion of the tour, Mike Millizer, the Project Superintendent for the contractor CDI, gave the board a briefing on what remains to be done.  And the timetable for completing everything.  Millizer said, “We’re ready to put up the drywall, which should be done by mid-July.  After the drywall is up we have 60 to 75 days to completion.  We’ll be finished with the majority of work by the end of September.”

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