Gym floor renovation at WCMS hits snag

The renovation of the original gym floor at Whitley County Middle School is costing a little more than originally planned.

During a special meeting last week, the Whitley County Board of Education approved an additional payment of $48,916.25 for replacement of the gym floor due to unforeseen problems with the underlying floor.

During the meeting, Athletic Director John Siler noted that as the Signature Floors crew prepped the gym floor for a new overlay, they quickly determined that the old rubber flooring was coming loose in large areas in addition to a moisture problem below the floor.

After consulting several people, Siler said it was decided that doing an overlay across the existing 36-year-old gym floor was about the equivalent of building a house on a failing foundation.

“With this, we are going to put down a vapor barrier and come back with a brand new floor from the concrete up,” Siler added.

The new floor will have a one-year warranty, which is standard for new gym floors.

In other business during the July 19 special meeting, the board recognized the 10 Whitley County Board of Education Scholarship recipients for 2016, including: Chelsea Renee Bush, Joseph Allen Chaffman, Emma Grace Cooper, Casey Jack Crisologo, Alexis Marie Gibson, Joshua Lucas Hackler, Allison Dale Lambdin, Kevin River Lawson, Keaton Ryan Logan and Jonathan Kyle Sasko.

In 2006, school board members began donating their pay for attending meetings and placing it in a scholarship fund through the Jimmy Crawford Foundation.

The foundation was created in honor of Jimmy Crawford, the late son of school board attorney Tim Crawford.

Since the first board scholarship awards were made in 2007, about $50,000 in scholarship money has been handed out to graduating seniors in the Whitley County school district.