The Cumberland County Board of Education met in a special called session last night to discuss the contingency fund for the new Crab Orchard Elementary School.

There are five projects considered including:

• Driveway remediation to the school ($88,900)
• painting the remaining old section of the school to match the new ($9,540)
• roof replacement of the old section ($104,000)
• safety tiles for existing hallway ramps ($10,200)
• removal of doors in the old classrooms leading to the outside. ($52,910) Those doors would be replaced by windows with an emergency hatch exit.

The total cost to complete all five projects is $265,550.

There is $243,968 in the contingency fund, leaving a difference of $21,582.

School board member Robbie Safdie made a motion to take the difference out of the fund balance to pay for the projects pending the approval of the county commission.

However, the motion stalled when board members learned one of the projects (doors) was not a set price. It was recommended that the board hold until the final price comes in for the door project.

There are currently 16 doors in the old section of the school that would be replaced with windows. These doors are inside the classrooms leading to outside of the building.

The board then approved a motion to spend the $243,968 on the projects pending the county commission’s approval. Once a final price of the door project comes in, it can be revisited by the school board at that time.

Prior to the meeting, 1057 News learned several citizens in Crab Orchard were curious about a new playground and new basketballs for the school. Principal Debbie Beaty told 1057 News those two items will be worked on by the PTO and Fairfield Glade Rotary.