The Knoxville School Board has approved the issuance of $350,000 in bonds to pay for installing air conditioning at Mable Woolsey Elementary.
Now Superintendent Steve Wilder tells WGIL the district will consult with architects and then quickly let out bids for the work.
“I would hope that we can get the board’s approval for a bid in April and then be ready to go as soon as school is out.”
Wilder told board members in consulting with architects they’ll figure out if it’s best for the district to install strictly air conditioning or an HVAC system.
After that’s decided Wilder hopes to have bids out before the Mar. 21 Board meeting.
If $350,000 in bonds isn’t enough to cover the installation costs the district will dip into reserves. If it’s more than needed amount the district has a list of smaller repairs that can be made.
“There’s always a couple of smaller things here and there,” Wilder adds. “We kind of have a running list of things that we’re looking at. I would say at this time we’re going to focus on air conditioning at the elementary school and cross that bridge if we come to it.”
Mable Woolsey is the last building in the district without air conditioning.
In other business Wilder gave the board a mid-year budget update saying the building and transportation funds expenses are a little above ideal, at about 76% of the year’s building budget and 71% of transportation.
