Hillsborough County allots more than $13 million for Plant City school improvements through 2019.
City Commissioners adopted a five-year work program for Hillsborough County schools at a Commission meeting in December. If funding is available, Hillsborough County will allot $13,925,023 for improvements at Plant City elementary, middle and high schools and career centers.
Improvements range from infrastructure repairs, such as re-roofing, paint jobs and asphalt repairs, to full renovations.
Out of the five-year plan for Plant City, Walden Lake Elementary School is set to receive the biggest funding in the 2017-18 school year, with $5,844,100 allotted for a complete renovation for the school’s heating and air-conditioning systems.
Durant High School has the second highest-priced renovation. The school district has budgeted $3,203,400 for a new roof in the 2018-19 school year. The school also is set to receive an exterior paint job in the 2017-18 school year.
“We’ve had some leaks,” Durant High School Principal Pam Bowden said. “We’ll take whatever they’ll do.”
Durant isn’t the only school in need of a new roof. In total, seven Plant City schools are scheduled to have a re-roofing done in the district’s five year-plan. Schools include Cork Elementary, Knights Elementary, Tomlin Middle, Walden Lake Elementary, Wilson Elementary and Plant City High School.
Besides getting a new roof, Plant City High School is the only school getting a new telephone system. The school has received the phones, and they were installed while school was out for the holidays. The new phone system will connect the whole school, from classrooms to the main office.
“The phones have been there since the nineties,” Plant City High School Principal Susan Sullivan said. “We’ve upgraded the system.”
A complete list of school improvements for all schools in Hillsborough County can be found on the school district’s website.
Contact Emily Topper at etopper@plantcityobserver.com.
