The Pearl River School District’s Board of Trustees heard an update on the bond construction during the Board’s monthly meeting March 12.
The District’s business manager, Thomas Burleson, gave a report on the current bond construction projects taking place at several PRC campuses.
Burleson said the demolition of the old administration building at the McNeill campus was postponed due to a water line being found within the building that connects to other structures on the elementary campus.
Burleson said a plumber would go in and move the water line so that demolition can begin.
Progress was also made on the projects taking place at the middle school and high school campuses in Carriere as Burleson said the high school project is approximately 70 percent complete.
Board member Christian Burge asked Burleson if there were any notable delays in construction.
Burleson said there have been some weather delays, but they have not been a significant hindrance.
There were some unforeseen obstacles, including the discovery of an old well that needed to be removed, as well as the removal of some old trailers from the elementary campus.
Overall, Burleson said construction is on schedule aside from the few hiccups that normally occur during a construction project.
The Board also approved a motion to spend $10,000 to buy and install 10 HALO Vape Detectors in the high school and middle school restrooms.
Four of the devices will be placed in restrooms across the middle school campus while the remaining six devices will be installed in the high school.
The devices analyze chemicals in the air to detect those potentially from a vaping device. When those chemicals are detected, a notification will be sent to administration identifying the location of the restroom so the potential violator can be found.
All of the devices have a built in vandalism sensor and also monitor noise levels, which administrators said would be helpful in determining if there is an altercation taking place in a bathroom.
Lastly the Board heard a report from Kimberly Alford who presented the Board with the District improvement monthly data report detailing the attendance rates, rates of discipline and other information from campuses in the District.
In the month of February PRC Middle School had the best attendance rate with 93.08 percent followed by PRC Elementary School and PRC High School, which had attendance rates of 92.97 percent and 91.50 percent respectively.