The Board of Trustees of Meridian Public School District Tuesday approved several contracts for school upgrades.

Throughout the school year, the board has discussed many plans to improve school buildings in the district using federal ESSER funding, allocated to schools to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The latest use for the funding is the renovations for the MHS girl’s gym locker room space to ensure compliance related to indoor air quality and social distancing.

J & J Construction was the lowest and best bid and the total cost is $788,000.

Other action

Voters in August 2022 approved a $34 million bond for improvements throughout the district. The upgrades originally included renovations to the high school and middle schools but Clay Sims, the district’s director of operations said the plan is to tackle the elementary schools as well.

As of Tuesday’s board meeting, the MPSD recommended the approval of a contract with Arjen Lagendijk, Architect PLLC. The architect will perform architectural services related to the 2022 Bond Referendum in all district elementary schools.

There are no details as to when the projects will begin but the wheels are in motion for elementary school upgrades.