By Gary Lloyd
HOMEWOOD — The Jefferson County Board of Education last week voted to award a bid for the construction of a new cafeteria at Kermit Johnson Elementary School in Pinson.
The bid was awarded to Cullman-based Civicon Construction Company and is for $2,415,542.
The projected completion date is Dec. 16.
Kermit Johnson Elementary School in Pinson
photo courtesy of Jefferson County Schools
Jefferson County Schools Public Information Director Nez Calhoun said last year that when 34 classrooms were added to the school a few years ago, enrollment swelled from about 400 students to nearly 800. She said at the time that a new, standalone cafeteria was “a huge need.”
In September 2013, the Jefferson County Board of Education approved a five-year capital plan, a prioritized, 42-item list of plans for capital projects to potentially be funded between the 2014 fiscal year and 2018 fiscal year. The fifth item on the list was a projected $2.3 million renovation for Kermit Johnson Elementary School. The funding year would be 2015, and the renovation would be for a new cafeteria to accommodate increased enrollment.
The existing cafeteria, which is connected to the gym, could be used for a large meeting room, choral room or health room.
The school’s vice president of the PTA, Christy Rainwater, said last year that lunch usually begins at the school around 10 a.m. to accommodate all the students.
The Jefferson County Commission in July 2014 presented Jefferson County Schools Superintendent Craig Pouncey a check for $7,887,280.70, funds left over from the bonds that were used to finance the rebuilding of county schools.
Part of that money going to Jefferson County Schools was reportedly going toward building the new cafeteria at Kermit Johnson Elementary School.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.
