Construction at Lakeview

As the 2016-2017 School year starts, the 2014 Bond that came through on a $455,500,000 budget is just “phase one” in the 18 month long project for Lakeview and should end in December of 2017. There are 5 phases, which is a 5 year project for the district.

  The chaos of construction is on the minds of students and faculty, and so are the air conditioning issues that are causing an upheaval with students.

“Some of the old system is up and they have some of the new system up and they don’t ‘talk’ to each other,” Lynn Lewis, secretary to Principal Maresa Bailey, said, “and so that’s why they are having trouble regulating the temperature and that’s why some areas are freezing and some areas are still too warm.”

The A/C is a problem throughout the entire school, with both students and teachers. The most they can do is either bring a heater or have a fan in the classroom to try and solve the problem.

“There was no air conditioning in my room until Thursday and then it was really warm in here,” Human Growth and Development teacher Amy Kenworthy said. “I’m hoping to have air conditioning next year in my room.”

The building is 40 years old and needs to meet regulations of the ADA (Americans with Disability Act) compliance code.

“A lot of it is stuff you can’t see,” Lewis said. “A new sprinkler system, new fire alarms, new cameras and new wifi hot spots, so all that stuff is kind of in the ceiling. They are redoing all the bathrooms to make them ADA compliant…and we are getting all new doors because they want all the doors to be ADA compliant.”

There has also been an increase in GISD security personnel throughout the school, but their main reason for being here is for the safety of students while the construction is in progress.

“Last week, we had a lot of GISD security people here, so they are helping monitor the building and ensure the safety of the students,” Lewis said. “There’s a lot of things we’ve had to endure so far, but it’s gonna be worth it once it’s all done.”