PELL CITY — The new Elouise and Harold Williams Intermediate School is well on its way to completion, with a staff and furniture.At Tuesday night’s board meeting, the board approved the volunteer transfer of 15 teachers and one counselor for the new intermediate school.
“That’s a real good start,” said Dr. Bobby Hathcock, superintendent of Pell City schools.
He said he hopes the entire staff for the new school is selected by the end of the school year.
The board also approved to established four new positions at the Elouise and Harold Williams Intermediate School. Those positions created and posted are for a school secretary, bookkeeper, media specialist and lunchroom manager.
“We’re getting a lot of the people in place,” Hathcock said. “It will get us a little ahead of the curve.”
Holly Costello is the new principal for the intermediate school. She was selected as principal at last month’s board meeting.
At Tuesday night’s board meeting, the board also approved the purchase of new furniture for the Williams Intermediate School.
The board approved the low bid submitted by School Specialty in the amount of $204,362 to furnish the new fifth/sixth-grade school.
“They actually come in, unpack all the furniture and set it all up,” said Gary Mozingo, the facilities supervisor for the Pell City school system.
He said construction of the new Elouise and Harold Williams Intermediate School along Hardwick Road is moving along well.
“We’re still on schedule for their drop-dead date of July 13,” Mozingo said. “But we’re hoping to get it done by the end of June. We have a lot of stuff to do in there.”
He said all the fifth-grade classroom items from all elementary schools, and all the sixth-grade classroom items from Duran South must be moved into Williams Intermediate School as soon as the new school is finished.
“We have a lot of moving to do in the summer,” Mozingo said.
In addition, he said workers have to move all the seventh-grade classroom items from Duran North to Duran South.
He said teachers will pack all their personal classroom items up in boxes the last few days of the school year, in preparation for the move.
Mozingo said about 90 percent of the outside of the new intermediate school is completed, although the curb, gutter and parking lots are still unfinished.
“Inside work is well on its way in two sections of the school,” he said.
Mozingo said there are five sections of the school. One inside section is about 90 percent complete, while another is about 60 precent done.
He said the intermediate school’s metal gymnasium is about 50 percent complete.
“It will go up quickly because of the type of construction it is,” Mozingo said.
Officials say the new $10 million school is about 79,500 square feet. It has 28 regular classrooms and four special education classrooms. In addition, the new school also has a media center, computer classroom, science classroom, art classroom, band room and gymnasium for physical education classes and school assemblies.
