TIFTON — The Tift County Board of Education approved International City Builders in Warner Robins at Tuesday’s night board meeting as the contractors to complete the additions and improvements — a science lab facility/canning plant, a classroom lab, storage room, cooling room and parking — at Tift County High School. The completion date is set for March 13.

Robby Dasher, director of facilities, said that the completion date is tight but there are liquidated damages in place to encourage contractors to complete the project by the specified date.

“Vocational folks were heavily involved in mentioning what they needed,” Dasher said concerning the development of the facility.

The new facility will be about 10,000 square feet. Superintendent Patrick Atwater said it will have better ventilation and it can operate when the high school is vacant.

“This will put more hours into the canning plant,” Atwater said.

He mentioned that cash coming directly from Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax funds is on hand to complete the construction of the new facility.

The board followed up from the property committee meeting last Friday with the recommendation of implementing a new bus route for students at the elementary schools J.T. Reddick, Matt Wilson and Charles Spencer. Chairman Shawn Utley said that Dasher did an admirable job in calculating the numbers for the transportation costs in replacing crossing guards for the new bus route.

“We have some folks lined up who would be willing to drive,” Dasher said. “We have a game plan to get them on board quickly once the route is approved.”

Dasher said that the stops and route have been established, and a list of students who will be affected by this has been determined. The schools will contact every student on the list. Dasher said crossing guards will continue to be on hand and will be phased out as students begin to adjust to the new bus route. The crossing guards will be met with concerning the addition of the bus route so that a beginning date for the route and an ending date for crossing guards can be established.

Dasher said that the new bus route will help relieve capacity in some buses. Some board members questioned the one-mile funding issue and the availability of the new route for students who may not want to ride the bus.

“If parents want their child to use the new route, they can,” Dasher said. “It’s the parents’ choice. We do not have that many walkers right now.”

Dasher said they currently have about 20-25 students total between the three schools who walk, but they’re anticipating having more students taking the new route when they become aware that it’s available. Dasher said the safety issue with students walking to and from J.T. Reddick, Matt Wilson and Charles Spencer is something they are looking at and considering for all county-wide schools. The board approved the new bus route.

Stephanie Morrow, the principal at Northside Primary School, recognized Lowe’s Home Improvement team in Tifton for their heroic efforts and hard work in revitalizing the courtyard in late April at the school. This was a voluntary project.

“We received new benches, and they repainted and landscaped the courtyard,” Morrow said. “It was very humbling. The amount of work they put in leaves me speechless.”

Morrow said students celebrated the team’s hard work in updating the courtyard. The students were very appreciative and are interested in developing a gardening club. Morrow personally thanked Lowe’s manager David Smith.

“This was a fantastic project which our children are going to use,” Smith said. “We enjoyed doing it and we’re very pleased with how it turned out. I always like giving back to kids.”

Smith said that Lowe’s has various grants available for schools to continue applying for them.

Dr. Julie Rucker, an English teacher at Tift County High School, presented to the board information about the Foundation for Rural Education and Development grant. This technology grant is designed to bring a more innovative learning experience to the classroom. Rucker said that this technology will effectively allow teachers to be mobile with students on a Promethean board. Teachers will be able to get an understanding of where their students are in a specific subject. Rucker said the grant will help with the program, Pumping Up Math Participation. She added that math is the area they’re focusing on with students and the FRED grant can definitely be utilized for PUMP.

Other issues discussed included SPLOST funds. Collections are down but all bills are still current. Atwater said the schools are able to continue to move forward with projects. He said that November is the biggest month for tax collection. Dasher added that SPLOST projects are successfully moving towards completion. The project at J.T. Reddick and the ground shelter at the high school is complete. Dasher said all physical work is completed at Omega. He hopes that next month, they will have other projects on the list. The board approved paying local teachers regularly before the end of December. Atwater said they have the funds to do so and are willing to wait to be reimbursed so that local teachers can be paid as they have always been paid in December. The Georgia Assessment of Performance on School Standards analysis was reviewed and Atwater said how reliable and useful it is in showing the target areas for improvements. Atwater said that they volunteered for the analysis because it’s a thorough assessment. Three of the Tift County schools have already gone through it and the results were fairly good, he said.

To contact reporter Latasha Everson, call 382-4321