The Lamar County School District Board of Trustees recently approved the acceptance of a $100,681 bid to replace the carpet at Lumberton Elementary School with new tile flooring.
The decision was made at the April 12 school board meeting, where board members agreed to pull up the carpet because of allergy and air quality concerns.
“We are always, constantly looking at our facilities for upgrades and anything else that we can do to improve our facilities,” said Steven Hampton, superintendent of the Lamar County School District. “This is just another step that we’ve taken to be able to update things.
“We want to be able to provide our children with the best possible learning environment, and a lot of things go into that. So this is one item we were able to provide for Lumberton.”
The work, which will be completed by MCS, is expected to begin as soon as possible.
“It’s probably going to be in the summer time,” Hampton said. “All those classrooms have carpet in them, and we don’t want to disrupt (classes), so it’ll be a summer time deal.”
Hampton said officials will continue to look for other improvements in addition to the new flooring at Lumberton Elementary.
“We’re very lucky to have a highly qualified maintenance director,” Hampton said. “He does a wonderful job assessing our physical plant and making upgrades as necessary, as money allows.”
Hampton also took the opportunity during the meeting to address the COVID-19 situation across the district, now that all schools have gone back to traditional learning methods with the option of virtual learning. The following are COVID case numbers in the county’s schools for the week of April 3 to April 9:
•Lumberton schools, home to 563 students: No staff or faculty were COVID positive; one student tested positive. One staff/faculty member is in quarantine, along with four students.
•Purvis schools, home to 1,761 students: No staff or faculty were COVID positive; one student tested positive. One staff/faculty member was in quarantine, along with 20 students.
•Baxterville schools, home to 249 students: No staff, faculty or students tested positive. One staff/faculty member was in quarantine, along with one student.
•Oak Grove schools, home to 5,749 students: Six staff/faculty members tested positive, along with one student. Twenty-two staff/faculty members were in quarantine, along with 66 students.
•Sumrall schools, home to 1,994 students: No staff or faculty members tested positive; one student tested positive. No staff or faculty members were in quarantine, although 22 students were.
•Other sites: No positive tests; two staff/faculty members were in quarantine.
“Our COVID numbers are still extremely low,” Hampton said. “We’re still monitoring that on a daily basis to make sure that we’re still in compliance.
“If we have any positives or quarantines or outbreaks, we’re adjusting them as needed. At this time, we’re extremely low with our faculty and staff … and student population, so I’m very happy to see that.”
