Workers will be nailing, hammering and painting until the bitter end in an effort to complete classroom renovations at Raa Middle School by the first day of school.
Six classrooms damaged by a fire in October are ready to go, but there's still work to be done on six others.
The goal is to have them done by the first day of school - Aug. 15 - but it could take until Labor Day, said Paul Byrd, the school district's executive director of maintenance, facilities and construction.
The fire pushed up renovations already planned for the school.
"If the fire hadn't come along, it would have been three years down the road," said Raa Assistant Principal Carl Misener.
A 15-year-old Raa student was charged with felony arson and burglary after being accused of starting several fires at the school. The price tag for the damage came to almost $1 million, including emergency repairs and lost materials. It's being paid for through insurance and capital-outlay dollars.
Raa, like all other schools in Leon County, had already been slated for new construction and renovation through money generated from the half-percent sales tax. It will receive $2 million in upgrades from that pot.
A new cafeteria, restrooms and upgrades to the P.E. fields have already been completed. And more than 100 computers have already been delivered.
There are obvious differences between the remodeled classrooms and the old classrooms, Misener said. The old rooms haven't changed since 1960, but the renovated ones have new windows, doors, ceilings and floors, he said.
"If you walked into a brand-new school just opening up that's what they'd look like," Misener said.
Distributed by the Associated Press
