The Walker County school board has approved renovation plans for two of its schools, and work should begin this summer, officials said.

The Board of Education approved the architectural plans for Chattanooga Valley Middle School and Naomi Elementary during its regular monthly meeting Monday night.

Naomi Elementary will receive new heating and air conditioning units for all classrooms, and the parquet floor in the gym will be replaced with synthetic flooring, Project architect Leonard Bowers said.

Federal Quality Zone Academy Bonds, or QZAB, will pay for the renovations at Naomi Elementary, Bowers said.

“The ($1.2 million in) QZAB money is being used for interior renovations of the existing facility, and it can only be used to that end,” he said.

Construction and remodeling at Naomi should begin and end during the summer, Walker Schools maintenance director Clarence Boyle said.

The construction in Chattanooga Valley will be funded with proceeds from the education special-purpose local-option sales tax, or ESPLOST, which voters approved in 2002, Boyle said. Builders should converge on the Chattanooga Valley project by this spring and have the new school ready for students by the beginning of the 2005 school year.

LaFayette Middle School is also slated for renovations and additions in the future, although there is no construction schedule, Boyle said.

In order to accommodate builders, the board is considering moving the sixth graders from LaFayette Middle School to the old LaFayette High School during construction at that site.

---

The Walker County Board of Education is scheduled to hold a planning session Tuesday, April 13, at 7 p.m. in the central office at 201 S. Duke St., LaFayette. For information about meetings, call (706) 638-1240.

---

In other business Monday:

* Rossville Elementary School principal Craig Davoulas and staff presented information about student success at the school, and attributed academic gains to the America’s Choice/Georgia’s Choice reading program model and a Reading Excellence Act grant. Davoulas said his school is one of six in the state to receive funding for both programs.

* The board honored LaFayette Middle and LaFayette High School wrestling teams and the Rossville Middle School basketball team for outstanding athletic achievement.

* The board honored elementary 4-H students for first place finishes in the Cloverleaf District Project.

* Curriculum director Dane Ward reviewed the GEARUP program, now in its third year of U.S. Department of Education funding and partnership with the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. The program began tracking the performance of 7th graders from Rossville Middle School in 2001, and plans to follow that class through graduation. The goal is to enroll more disadvantaged students in college.

* The board approved application for state Georgia Lottery funding for the prekindergarten program. The money should fully fund the program, curriculum director Dane Ward said.

* Superintendent Roy Sapough introduced policy revisions regarding student class credits toward high school graduation.

* The board approved a contract with Walker County government and Walker County Connection. Walker County government acts as the fiscal agent to funnel state funding toward the salary of the Walker County Connection executive director