Repair Work Already Starting At Shaw

Alabama Mobile Magnet school students from Clark will be moving there next school year.

by Steve Alexander

Published: Wed, April 29, 2009 - 6:51 pm CST Last Updated: Wed, April 29, 2009 - 8:44 pm CST

Less than 24 hours after a Mobile County School Board meeting, work has begun on preparing the old Shaw High School for new tenants beginning next school year.
Tuesday night, the school board voted to move the math and science middle school magnet program from Clark to Shaw.
Clean up work started at Shaw Wednesday.
Huey Belaire, the new construction planning coordinator for the school system, said, "We showed up with a crew this (Wednesday) morning and had some dumpsters sent over. Our crews are going through the classroom, removing everything on the walls, so our other guys can come in behind and prep the walls."
Belaire said the bulk of the work needs to be done in the main building, which right now is leased out to Thyssenkrupp for training employees.
Repair work in that building will start when those classes end in the middle of June.
Belaire said, "In the main building, we're going to go through there, (put in) all new plumbing fixtures, ceilings, lights, and replace all the air conditioners this summer before school starts."
Over at Clark, we couldn't find any parents who wanted to talk on camera.
One said off-camera she was ambivalent about students moving from Clark to Shaw.
But Rick Kelly, a math teacher at Clark, said he's excited about the change because "I think the move will be the best thing for the students."
Kelly said there will be a better opportunity for students to learn at Shaw.
He said, "The infrastructure with the new electronics and all that we're adding is far better there than what we have, so we can offer the kids more things in the technological area than what we can do here."
Belaire estimates all the work will cost about $500,000.
Right now, the plan is to move Chickasaw Magnet School to the old Clark School in the fall of 2010.

WKRG.com » News Stream » Alabama