Published: May 09, 2007 10:30 am      

School district offices may get face lift

PICAYUNE — Architect David Landry of Landry & Lewis in Hattiesburg last night presented the school board with preliminary plans and tentative costs for a face lift, new roof and expansion of the Picayune Municipal Separate School District’s central offices.

The expansion, which may not be very noticable from outside the building, will provide space for the district’s technology department that plans for and maintains computers and other technology for the district’s campuses.

However, the new roof and new facade will give the building an entirely new look, Landry told the board at its meeting last night. It will better tie together the administration offices and adjacent Picayune Junior High School, which now appear as all one building, but with different looks from the outside.

The entrance will be relocated and made to match the entrance to the junior high.

The roof lines also will better be joined and match to give a uniform look to the front of long single-story structure comprising the junior high and the central offices, preliminary drawings Landry brought with him revealed. The roof at the front of the structure will be shingled to match the junior high and the roof over the back half of the structure will be a standing seam metal roof.

The initial estimated cost of the project is $362,449, the architect said.

Landry warned the costs he povided are very preliminary and may change as the working drawings are developed.

The board voted for him to go ahead with drawing up the project and with defining costs.

The board quickly went through the rest of its agenda with little discussion.

In other business, the board:

— Rescheduled an address by repesentatives of the Picayune Diamond Club to the board’s meeting Tuesday evening, May 22, at the club’s request.

— Approved personnel matters, except for one item that was referred to executive session.

— Approved consent items, including donations of $300 from Elizabeth Seal as part of her senior project to the Nicholson art program; of $4,081 from PMHS Boosters to the PMHS chorus; of $100 from Mississippi Alliance For Arts Education to Picayune Memeorial High School drama, and of $600 from the Knights of Columbus to the PMHS Scholarship Fund.

— Approved 16th section matters.

— Approved the second reading on revisions to a series of board policies and the first reading on a series of mostly new board policies, many to comply with recent legislative action.

— Approved grant applications for a Michael Jordan Inspiration grant for Cindy Southern at South Side Upper Elementary and for a Safe Harbor summer camp grant.

— Approved PMHS requests related to summer driver education program.

— Approved a contract with Coast Therapy Services for occupational and physical therapy for the 2007-’08 school year.

— Approved the technology plan for 2008-2010.

— Learned that the State Auditor’s office has begun its audit during the superintendent’s update.

— Went into executive session on student matters, a personnel matter and discipline.

Adjourned.