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Earth movers, asphalt crews, demolition
and skilled trades workers have been busy over
the summer starting the rebuilding authorized by
voters in May 2007.
Remodeled media centers, with new
computer equipment and furniture, are in place
at every elementary school, as well as Lapeer
East and Lapeer West High Schools. The District is also undergoing other
significant changes, not so readily visible.
High School Trimesters begin this fall;
elementary schools will be offering a new and
improved way to deliver technology education;
and the class schedule at Zemmer Junior High
School will also be new.
The new All Day Alternate Day
Kindergarten, which has been popular with
parents, will make its debut in September. The
planning for these changes involved every
department and employee group in the District as
well as parents.
“We are excited and pleased with the
challenge of major work projects to ready our
schools for the new century and the continued
improvement of our academic program,” said
Superintendent Debbie Thompson.
Most readily noticeable are the physical
changes.
Before the passage of the 2007 bond, a
“normal” summer would see the District
spending between $150,000 and $200,000 on
technology improvements. This summer Director of
Technology Nick Ward and his staff oversaw and
helped with the installation of new media
centers and computer labs in all the elementary
schools, Lapeer East and Lapeer West High
School, as well as classroom data projectors and
document cameras, at a cost of about $1.5
million.
In a “normal” summer the District’s
Operations Department would deal with hundreds
of repair requests from our many buildings. No
small task in any year, but on top of those
issues this year, the Operations Department has
been actively supervising more than $140,000 in
District maintenance projects. With the completion of major renovations
financed by the 2003 sinking fund, the District
is focused on a vigorous maintenance program to
preserve and protect the new buildings, parking
lots, roofs and utility infrastructure made
possible by the voters.
This summer parking lots at Lynch, Maple
Grove, Mayfield, Schickler, Turrill and the
north lot at Lapeer West High School were sealed
and re-striped in order to extend the life of
those previously completed projects. Other work
included:
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Lynch:
Repairs were made to the bus loop,
chimney, and a gate installed at the cafeteria.
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Maple Grove:
A dumpster pad was installed and new road
flashers were installed for enhanced safety.
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Turrill: Sidewalk repairs made.
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Lapeer East: Parking lot cameras
were installed, repairs made to the portable
steps, repairs made to the auditorium seating,
athletic track re-lined and a new football
practice field was installed.
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Lapeer West: A ticket booth was
installed, new shelving in the band/choir room,
ceiling fans installed in gym and new fencing on
the south side of the football field.
In the struggling Michigan economy, the
$17 million Woodside project and the $2 million
Cramton project are the largest ongoing building
projects in the Genesee County and Lapeer County
areas. On any given day, about 60 workers, many
of them skilled trades and local laborers, are
working on the two major school building
projects. In early August, skilled workers from
many trades, plumbing, electrical and masonry
were busy working at the two sites. Despite late
July torrential rains, the two projects remain
on, or ahead, of schedule.
There is plenty of anecdotal evidence
that the workers on our building projects are
spending money here in Lapeer County further
helping our local economy.
At the same time the District is working
on plans for the next round of changes which
will begin next summer with the start of
construction on the middle school at the Zemmer
site as well as the planning for a new academic
program for our sixth, seventh and eighth
graders. |
