After over 10 years, the parking lot at the Henryetta high school gymnasium is going to be paved.
At a special meeting Thursday morning, school board members approved spending $160,100 to pave the 250 by 250-foot square parking lot as well as the parking area at the rear and roadway on the west side of the gym. Steve’s Asphalt company from Boynton will be the contractor.
He said three bids were presented and the $160,000 was the lowest. Oklahoma Department of Transportation officials reviewed the bids and approved the specifications.
Funds remaining from the $9.1 million school bond issue three years ago will be used to pay for the work.
Superintendent Dwayne Noble said a combination of low interest rate as well as work coming in under budget meant the school doesn’t have to dip into it’s general operating budget. “We can spend the money for upgrades and improvements but not on transportation,” Noble said following the meeting.
Some of those extra funds were used to purchase new computers for the school. “We have some computers that are 13 years old,” he said. “They won’t even run the programs the students need.”
Work on the paving is expected to start within the next few weeks and should be completed by the time school starts.
Future paving plans at the school call for the roadway behind the high school past the tennis courts and softball field to receive a new surface.
Board members hired Garry Howk as the new high school math teacher and baseball coach. Howk has taught at Schulter, Midway and Ryal.
Monday night the board will meet for the regular July session. At that time, Noble said he hoped to hire a new high school principal.
He said several candidates have been interviewed during the past week.