District completing construction projects at Sebring Middle School, Lake Placid High School

Students attending Sebring Middle School and Lake Placid High School will be seeing changes to improve cafeteria service and will soon see the removal of seven rented portable classroom units.

According to Dave Burnham, director of facilities and new construction, the culmination of several years of planning, engineering and remodeling is scheduled for completion by the start of the new school year.

Burnham, who oversees the Highlands County school district maintenance, planning, and construction operations, said the renovations will not only benefit the staff and students, but will represent a savings to the taxpayers.

Sebring Middle School is considered a sister to the Avon Park Middle School. That is, the same engineering and plans used in the earlier facility were, and still are, adapted to the new school at a reduced cost.

At a cost of $243,000, the wall between an adjacent music suite has been removed to add another 1,500 square feet of dining space at SMS. Additional tables will provide for increased dining capacity in a more spacious and renewed atmosphere.

The renovation allows the serving line to be moved out of the kitchen to more efficiently serve the student lunches. A wall between the line and kitchen will now separate the two areas. Avon Park Middle School will open in the fall with a similar change to its serving line and kitchen.

The cost for that construction is about $134,000. Both projects are funded out of the construction portion of the capital outlay for the district.

Asked what will become of the music program, Burnham explained that the music teacher agreed to move the classes to another room that is adequate for the curriculum.

Seven portable classroom trailers at Lake Placid High School will be disassembled and hauled away by the leasing company. They were being used for the ROTC program and have been a cost that had to be paid each year. The cancelled lease will save the county and taxpayers in future budgets. No plans have been made for the soon to be empty real estate.

The old band room at LPHS is being converted into several resource rooms separated by moveable partitions. In addition, new ceiling and flooring is being installed to update the area for the first time in approximately 20 years.

The school building itself was constructed in the early 70s. The conversion and renovation, costing $99,000, will be completed in time for school.

Burnham stated that there are no current plans for additional projects for those schools, but studies are made every five years to advise on possible future needs.

He added that since his tenure started 17 years ago, the district's school facilities have increased from 1.5 million to over 2.2 million square feet. At the present time, enrollment is down for Highlands County, and current facilities are sufficient.