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Classes for Luverne Public Schools are a few weeks away, and school officials have developed contingency plans as if none of the new classrooms are ready.
School begins Sept. 16.
Currently the remodeling of the seven classrooms on the second floor of the west wing remains unfinished along with the new band and choir suites in the former middle-high school theater.
Some classes may meet in other areas of the school until the classrooms are ready, according to the contingency plans.
Board members toured the construction progress Thursday night, Aug. 22, and reviewed the plans in case none of the classrooms are ready for student occupancy.
“We are doing everything we can to get you in there,” said ICS Consulting project manager Roger Koens. “We just have to work a little faster.”
In early March workers with Gil Haugen Construction in Sioux Falls began demolishing the former school theater in preparation for the new band and choir suites.
The theater remodel project is 85 percent complete, Koens estimated.
The former band and choir rooms are currently in the demolition stage.
The west wing remodel is about two weeks behind the schedule outlined by ICS officials at the July 18 school board meeting.
Doors for the classrooms will arrive after school starts. It is uncertain if a certificate of occupancy can be issued for rooms without doors.
“Currently the state fire marshal’s position is in transition so we don’t have a person to speak to about that yet,” Koens said.
No heating or air conditioning is currently available in the middle-high school building. The 1956 boiler system was removed this summer. The new system is expected to be on line in late September.
Parking has been reduced around the school to accommodate the storage of construction materials.
A parking map depicts acceptable areas to leave vehicles.
“If kids park in one spot, we will be OK,” said Superintendent Craig Oftedahl. “It will be important for people to follow the map.”