Prairie Central High School will take on a new look for the upcoming school year.
The school’s office space is being renovated this summer with the main goal of student safety.
“The whole reason for that is so we have a safer entrance during the day,” explained Prairie Central Superintendent Paula Crane. “Right now, our entrance comes into the cafeteria where there are a lot of kids.”
Visitors will have to go through the office to actually enter the school building. This also allows the administration to be under one roof, such as the counselor, athletic director, dean of students, principal and secretaries.
“That’s a little handier,” admitted Crane.
Since asbestos abatement is involved, the projected cost is $350,000. Funding will come from sales tax money – giving the public a chance to see the benefits to the school district.
Another safety project at Prairie Central includes a new communication system to replace the old building intercoms. Communication is key, not only on a daily basis, but in the event of an emergency such as a tornado or intruder.
“We have invested in a system that can not only give kids a verbal but also a visual for them to look at,” Crane noted.
The system can contact all of the school buildings at the same time and is expected to be a major improvement from what the district currently has. If a certain school goes on lockdown, all of the other buildings can be alerted.
Several other projects are ongoing thanks to sales tax money, including plumbing and roof work to get buildings in better condition. According to Crane, some of the projects were put off for a long time since the district did not have adequate funding.
“We really appreciate the people that do shop local so we can get that money,” said Crane.
