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Franklin City Public Schools Assistant Superintendent of Operations Dr. Clint Walters provided the Franklin City School Board with an update Dec. 12 on projects — present and future — relevant to school division facilities.

Following are a few of the items he addressed during his presentation.

MODULAR C UPDATE

Modular C, which will be used to house elementary school classrooms behind S.P. Morton Elementary School, is expected to be ready for use by the end of January 2025.

“Our custodial team continues to clean and wax the floors and get everything ready,” Walters said. “I’m excited to be able to say that we have finalized our contract date with the alarm system. They will be here Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (Dec. 16-18) to finish up that work.”

He noted that contractor Nadler Modular started Dec. 11 to address the punch-list fixes that Walters and his staff provided. 

“That’s going to continue as we move through our upcoming winter break,” he said, and his slideshow presentation noted that remaining work included placing the skirting around the modular.

“The panel box is scheduled for delivery today, and Bay Electric will be pouring the pedestal and taking care of the prep work,” he said. “Work was anticipated to begin yesterday prior to the monsoon that we had. So we are still anticipating move-in and transition in January of ’25.”

Ward 4 Board Member and Vice Chair Cristina Boone asked Walters if he could provide a specific date in January. He said he could not, but he added that he would anticipate the modular will be ready by the end of the second nine-week period of the school year.

“So I feel confident in saying, ‘By the end of January 2025,’” he said.

ROOFING UPDATE

Walters said, “All work at the elementary school is completed with our roofing project.”

He noted in his presentation that at Franklin High School, the contractor working on the roof there is installing an additional coat of asphalt-based aluminum coating over the seams above the cafeteria.

“Garland is installing, at their cost, an extra layer of sealant above the cafeteria nearest the hallway,” he said. 

Walters’ presentation noted that this is primarily an aesthetic treatment.

“We have two excellently functioning roofs, but this is just going to add one more layer of protection,” he said. “And once everything is completed, we will do a final walk, and they will share warranty information with us. At this point, because things are functional, Garland is covering anything that happens from this point forward.”

UPCOMING REQUESTS FOR PROPOSALS

Walters’ presentation listed the following items that are expected to be the subject of Requests for Proposals (RFPs):

1.) Custodial services at S. P. Morton Elementary School;

2.) Architectural services;

3.) Cosmetology and barbering at J.P. King Jr. Career and Technical Academy; 

4.) An auxiliary gym at Franklin High School; 

5.) Charles Street Gym remodeling; and

6.) Playground installation at S. P. Morton Elementary School.

In reference to item No. 1, Walters said, “We have worked to address some training issues, and we’re still trying to make sure that that environment is as clean as possible, and so that’ll be one of our RFPs that will go out.”

Referencing Nos. 2-5, Walters said, “What I’m researching at this point is if we can have one architect provide services for all of those projects in a single RFP. I have seen a few examples where that’s the path that they took, and I think that might provide us with a little bit of cost savings.”

In reference to No. 6, he said, “If you’ll remember, we were fortunate to receive a significant grant that’s going to help us reimagine the playground at the elementary school.”

He concluded by saying, “So those are really our upcoming projects, so we’ve done a lot of heavy lifting. We’re going to continue that heavy lift into the second semester.”