Vicksburg school buildings appear poised to be in good shape when their doors open Aug. 25, as considerable construction-related progress has been made over the summer.
Maintenance Director Dewey Waterman provided a construction update during the board’s July 14 meeting. He said work over the summer started minutes after the 2024-25 academic year concluded June 6. “The movers were watching the last bus,” he said. “I took a picture at the middle school and the last school bus was in the same frame as the mover’s truck. They were literally like a hundred feet apart.”
Waterman said work has been progressing at a good pace, in part because a lot of the work has involved the same task, albeit at different buildings. “We’re tearing up tile, we’re putting in walls and things like that,” he said. “We’re replacing tons of tile.”
He focused first on Sunset Lake, where he said crews “are doing a little bit of everything.” Waterman showed a slide of a worker using a machine that rapidly and effectively removes old floor tile from Sunset’s hallways. Waterman called it “the floor monster.” Half of the school’s flooring work was completed a year ago, while the balance was tackled this summer.
Another image showcased demolition of a student bathroom in preparation of a larger, modern washroom and installation of replacement water-pipe infrastructure.
Waterman said other areas of focus at Sunset Lake include a visual upgrade at its main entrance, the addition of “walk-off” carpet at all entrances and new LED lighting in its cafeteria.
Waterman said Vicksburg Middle School has undergone similar work, focusing on hallways, classrooms and its band room, as well as a fresh coat of paint in its gymnasium.
Focusing on Vicksburg High School, Waterman showed a photo of desks and chairs ready to be removed from the building ahead of new classroom furniture. New furniture is on track to be delivered in early August. The high school also features new floors and other updates to its band room and bathrooms. Vape detectors were also added at the high school as well as at the middle school.
“As a whole, we’re getting a ton of new flooring put in,” he said, noting the flooring is made of a thicker material called luxury vinyl tile, which does not require waxing. “The science rooms were the worst and now they look the best.”
Considering the summertime construction schedule is such a short period – district officials estimate there were 55 actual workdays available – the high school flooring project will be split into two seasons. Lower-level classrooms and hallway flooring were to be completed this summer and the balance in 2026.
By the end of next summer, all bathrooms in the district will have been updated, Waterman said.
Board members in February approved bids for what amounted to $4.2 million worth of work this summer.
Assistant Superintendent Steve Goss said the work was funded from the district’s millage request approved by its voters five years ago and is referred to as “2020 Bond Projects Series 3.” Previous work includes mechanical and electrical upgrades.
Waterman noted similar work at Tobey and Indian Lake schools had already been completed.
In other news, Superintendent Keevin O’Neill said staffing for the 2025-26 academic year is nearly complete and the district appears to be in good shape.
