Construction is underway in the Mason County School District.
According to Mason County Schools Superintendent Rick Ross, crews are in the early stages of working on a new culinary classroom and art classroom at the high school, a new roof, cafeteria flooring, windows and doors at the Mason County Middle School,and new concrete, new entry covering, new windows doors and HVAC system at Straub Elementary School.
“All of the work is very early, but it’s underway,” Ross said. “Everyone will also be happy to know we’re paving the gravel lot at the intermediate school.”
Ross said he hopes to see the culinary classroom finished by winter break. In the meantime, students will be moved to an empty classroom.
“We’re working on finding a place where students will be able to cook,” he said. “The classroom should be finished sometime after Christmas.”
Ross said he was happy to be able to continue the renovation work in the district.
“This is a continuation of the work we started last year,” he said. “We have a long list of things that need to be done in the district and we’re excited to be able to continue it.”
In addition to the construction projects underway, crews are continuing work on the police substations.
According to Ross, the substation at the STEAM Academy is finished, but the one behind MCHS still needs work.
“We had some rain issues — with water running off the football field — that we didn’t expect, so we have some work to do there,” he said. “We’re still hopeful to have them up and running around September.”
The board of education agreed last year to add the substations on campus to give police more access to the district’s facilities around the clock. At the time, Ross said the district was working in collaboration with several local businesses to build the stations at the STEAM Academy and at a second location, later determined to be the bus garage.
Ross said he has been talking with Mason County Sheriff Patrick Boggs whose office provides a resource officer for the district, and in the past has discussed the plan with Maysville Police Chief Ron Rice.
“We are going to encourage police officers to be there,” Ross said.
The substations will provide a location for officers to monitor school activities and to perhaps complete paper work or other duties, according to Ross.
The stations will also be equipped with feeds from school video cameras that officers can monitor when they are in-house and will be linked in to the districts announcement system which will provide both vocal and message alerts for weather or other incidents, Ross said.
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