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Luverne School Board members and contractors engaged in an hourlong discussion Thursday night, Aug. 27, about building progress and the pandemic’s effect on construction workers.
The meeting involved school officials, representatives from general contractor Gil Haugen Inc. of Sioux Falls and construction managers ICS Builds, also of Sioux Falls.
They outlined a timeline that will have the majority of the classrooms ready Tuesday for the start of the 2020-21 school year.
“Hopefully by Oct. 1 we will be in a good spot,” board member Katie Baustian said after the meeting. “The whole thing is getting close.”
Luverne Middle School will have 26 new classrooms available when school opens Sept. 8.
Work crews were busy Monday putting the finishing touches on the sixth- through eighth-grade classrooms on the two floors of the north wing.
The second floor of the south wing, which houses high school classrooms won’t be ready until Sept. 18. This means several teachers will temporarily operate out of the gymnasium and other resource rooms.
The hybrid learning model means only half the students will be in the building at a time, allowing teachers to utilize all on-campus available space.
The first floor of the south wing, which is home to the school’s special education classrooms, will be finished by Oct. 1.
The $30 million construction project began in March 2019 and is scheduled to finish next year with completion of the new performing arts center.
The center and new south-facing middle-high school commons area will link the elementary and middle-high school together.