Fuller Middle School's new gym floor
Jacksonville High School's new entrance
Jacksonville High School gets a fresh coat of paint in its cafeteria.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) -- When students return to school August 20, chances are, they'll see some changes to their building, like a new entrance at Jacksonville High School
"We are replacing the stairs here and Jacksonville high school. They were too steep and too short, each step was," says Chief Operations Officer Derek Scott.
Scott says it's no secret PCSSD facilities needed a lot of help.
"We had carpet in a school 35 years old," says Scott.
The district is spending $7.5M on renovations to approximately 30 of its 36 schools. A lot of money for a district in fiscal distress, but Superintendent Dr. Jerry Guess says they have restricted money solely for construction projects.
"These funds can't be used for buying school buses and can be used for renovating buildings and repairing roofs and doing paint jobs," says Dr. Guess.
Paint jobs like Jacksonville High School's cafeteria. Jacksonville Middle School will get a new entrance, refinished floors, and new media center.
Fuller Middle School has a new awning, gymnasium floor, and roof. The district picked projects starting with safety and also complying with desegregation requirements.
The district started planning 10 months ago for this 10-week project. Superintendent Dr. Jerry Guess says this is just the start. You can expect more projects in the future.
A federal judge ruled part of the reason the district has not been declared unitary is because of its facilities.