The Lauderdale County School District is exploring options to repair the ongoing severe drainage problem on the campus of Northeast Lauderdale Elementary School.

The matter was among topics discussed Thursday night during the district’s regular board meeting at the Lauderdale County Board of Education office, and the board agreed to allow Engineering Plus to draw up plans so the board can inspect costs.

District Operations Supervisor Steve Marlow presented options at the meeting on fixing drainage problems.

“We’ve got multiple areas and have different types of water problems,” Marlow said. “In some areas, we’ve got kids wading through water. Any time we have rain like we did the other day it creates other problems. My recommendation would be to bid out the whole project rather than do it in phases.”

Engineering Plus recently repaired a drainage problem at Southeast Lauderdale Elementary School. The work was completed at the estimated $86,000.

Board member Barbara Jones asked if 16th Section funds were available for the project so the district could get started on repairs.

“If the Board chooses, it can transfer the amount to cover it,” District Finance Director Charlotte Parker said. “I would rather pay for it from the General Fund rather than from 16th Section. We try to do the bigger projects like buying buses with our 16th Section Fund. I don’t have any idea what the revenue from the state is going to be. By the time we have the bid we’ll know what our allocation from the state is going to be.”

The district has $1.3 million available in its 16th Section fund. A Pat Harrison Waterway Grant is one source for repairs. The grant for Southeast Lauderdale Elementary was $25,000.

Depending on the weather, Marlow estimated the project would take 10-12 weeks to complete.

“If the work is approved, I would like to start work as soon as the school year is out and be finished by the first of August,” District Director of Operations Kevin Cheatham said. 

Parker said the work would have to wait until bids go out.

Jones said the repairs need to be completed quickly.

“We’ve talked about losing enrollment,” Jones said. “We’ll continue to lose enrollment with kids walking through water. Northeast is one of the oldest schools we have.”