By Steven Stilt
Superintendent Craig Clark reported at Tuesday night’s meeting of the Centralia City Schools Board that construction projects at two schools in the district have mostly been completed.
Those projects have involved construction of activity centers at Jordan School and on the Central Middle School end of the Centralia Junior High School building. Clark says there are a few finishing touches that remain, but the bulk of the work is finished.
“The buildings themselves are pretty much done. We have taken occupancy of them, and we have a few little finishing things, like there are some doors we ordered that have been taking a while for them to come in. The frames are in place; it’s just once the doors come in, they need to be hung, little things like that. There’s some outside exterior work — some concrete, some grass seed that needs to be planted, some fencing around some of the transformers — but overall they are usable and we are using them.”
The activity centers at Jordan and Central Middle School each include bleachers and six basketball goals, and can also accommodate volleyball matches. They will primarily be used for PE classes, but can be used for other functions as well. Clark says they are a welcome addition to the schools.
“What we saw prior to COVID was that during winter months and during weather, those buildings really didn’t have any place for kids to go, so there was a big chunk of time during the winter where kids were stuck in the classrooms. This has given us a chance to give them an opportunity to have activities that get them out of the classroom and can get them up and moving around.”
Also on Tuesday, the school board approved two personnel items, accepting the resignation of homebound teacher Monica Bochantin as of the end of the current school year and approving the hiring of Caroline Riddle as Centralia Junior High School special education teacher.
