The new gym at Pinecrest Elementary School will be named after Danny Deese, who was principal at the school for 27 years. The competition-size gym is expected to be complete around mid-July. Brian Schoenhals/The Daily Home
The City Board of Education approved the name at a called meeting Thursday morning.
Deese worked in the school system for 38 years before retiring, including 27 years as principal at Pinecrest.
Board President Jennie McGhee said everyone felt naming the gym after Deese was an appropriate dedication.
“Mr. Deese has been a long, loyal principal,” McGhee said. “This was something that not only the board members and faculty supported, but also something the community was really behind.”
A dedication ceremony will likely take place once the gym is complete, which should be around mid-July, according to maintenance supervisor Johnny Gray.
“We’re about 80 percent done,” he said.
The competition-size gym will serve many purposes with retractable seating, a special education classroom on the front side and a softball locker room on the back.
Installation of the gym’s rubber flooring should begin within the next week now that humidity levels in the concrete base have lowered, Gray said.
“When you do rubber-surfaced flooring instead of wood, the humidity level in the concrete base has to have a particular percentage of moisture or it creates problems,” Gray said.
Construction of the gym at Indian Valley Elementary School has been on hold for nearly two months waiting for the humidity to drop, Gray said.
“Pinecrest is dry as a bone now, so we should be starting the floor on it soon, but we’re still waiting on Indian Valley,” he said. “Basically, it just has to sit there until the humidity gets to the right level.”
Indian Valley’s gym, which will be two-thirds competition size, is about 95 percent complete.
Also at Thursday’s meeting, the board:
• Approved summer school for Sylacauga High School students at $200 per student. Summer school is June 11-July 31. It is part of the Alabama Department of Education’s ACCESS Distance Learning program.
• Approved revisions to the 2012-2013 school calendar.
• Approved Layla Kissic as a returning tuition student at Indian Valley next school year.
• Approved new tuition students Gabriel Moore, Jesse Moore and Jai Gaddis at Nichols-Lawson Middle School, SHS and Indian Valley, respectively.
• Approved Shaw-Hankins as a new cafeteria plan provider.
• Approved the following personnel actions:
• Voluntary transfer of Selena Felkins from Title I teacher at Nichols-Lawson to 10-month assistant principal at Indian Valley effective with the next school year.
• Employment of Indian Valley 10-month custodian Cathy Phillips, SHS French teacher Sara Walker and SHS assistant volleyball coaches Becky Porch and Josh Golden, all effective with the next school year.
• Leave of absence from Amanda Bolton from the first teacher work day in August through Sept. 28.
• Resignation of SHS business education teacher Hillary Downs effective immediately.
• Approved positions for two summer workers in the technology department.
The next regular board meeting is June 21 at 5:30 p.m.
Contact Emily Adams at eadams@dailyhome.com.
