School construction to wrap up in October

Eastern Pulaski Community School Corporation parents and students will soon be seeing a number of the changes of the construction upgrade project. 
The start of school will not only bring the excitement of the new year but also several upgrades may have students eager to begin the school year such as the upgrading of classrooms and new technology. 
Although a rumor was floating about that start of school may be delayed because of the construction, superintendent Dan Foster says that’s not the case. 
“We plan to start school as scheduled on Aug. 9,” he said. “There will be some inconveniences still during the first couple of months during the year but we are actually in pretty good shape as of right now.”  
Foster said the upgrades are almost complete. Currently, the elementary project is almost complete except the fifth-graders will start the school year in different locations because that area is currently under demolition. He is hoping that parents and students will be pleased with the work at the elementary school. 
As for the middle and the high school buildings, Foster said the construction was a little behind schedule. He said the science labs project was about two weeks behind but overtime made up for some lost time. Construction crews are also trying to finish up the family and consumer science rooms. 
The big concern of most of the school patrons and athletes is the high school gym. While the school board was looking at the different upgrade options, they decided to add air conditioning to the high school gym. The arrival of the air handling system was delayed causing the completion of the new gym floor to stall. Foster said the new floor will require a climate-controlled atmosphere to set properly.  
Parents and visitors of the schools should be aware of the new entrances at the buildings. Foster said the middle school is the same setup. At the elementary and high schools, visitors will enter a vestibule before they are buzzed into the office — not an open space or hall. The high school office isn’t completed just yet, according to Foster, so some adjustments will need to be made for the first couple of weeks of school.