By Mindy Ragan Wood
Staff Writer
Piedmont school officials are looking forward to seeing new school projects and buses this spring.
The Early Childhood Center, located on Memorial Road in Surrey Hills, will be completed in April and ready for the fall enrollment.
In addition, improvements are being made to Northwood Elementary with a safe room and five new classrooms.
“There’s still a few punch list items,” Superintendent James White said, “that we are working on before we move in…we’ll be ready to move in teachers later on this week and start using it.”
Construction at Piedmont Elementary is behind schedule due to a lack of subcontractors reporting to the job site and weather hindering concrete work.
“We had a long discussion with McNatt (construction) on getting crews there,” White said.
“He’s had conversations with those people and they’re going to be able to finish the job.”
A full crew was committed to being on the job this week.
Improvements to the high school are being done in stages but will not be completed this school year.
School sites are not the only projects expanding or improving. White said he is seeking price estimates to consider expanding the bus barn to allow all buses to be covered.
The district could soon acquire at least one new bus after receiving two grants from the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality. The district will save more than $20,000 toward the purchase of a diesel bus and could later acquire a CNG bus.
“The alternative fuel grant was $55,000 towards a CNG bus. The lowest price…is about $127,000 so that would be $55,000 towards that,” said Shawn Blankenship, executive director of administrative services.
The district has five years to accept and spend the funds for a CNG bus. White said they hope to see prices fall during that time frame. The closest fueling station for a CNG vehicle is at 164th and Rockwell.
“It could work,” White said. “We would just run it on those routes by it. With just one bus it wouldn’t be feasible yet.”
Students are also experiencing technology improvements with the new anti-bullying and safety app StopIt.
The app is designed to allow students to anonymously report misbehavior by fellow students, including the ability to chat with school officials and upload videos.
Director of Communications and Personnel Lisa Campbell reported that false claims on the app have ceased and most reports are mild issues.
White said it has been helpful on the bus.
“We’ve had a couple of kids help us out on the buses as well,” he said. “Some stuff they let us know about.”
Campbell said some students are reporting concerns for their peers because they were not comfortable speaking with staff.
“We’ve had some that weren’t discipline concerns, but some had concerns for their (other students) welfare.”
Campbell further reported that the safety committee continues to meet and work on safety related matters for all schools.
