Residents got a district-wide school construction update during the last Board of Education meeting last week, particularly regarding the Garden City middle school and high school.

The countdown to "button up" schools is on. Construction workers have stopped demolishing any pieces of the middle school and high school in order to close off parts workers did demolish and safe off those areas for students beginning the school year next month.

With regard to the middle school, concrete curbs were installed Monday with the interior portion expected to be completed by Aug. 27. Workers installed new windows on the Stewart Avenue side of the building and finished installing the rest of the windows last Tuesday.

The science addition has taken a back seat to the improvement of the existing classrooms so that those rooms will be complete by next month's school opening and be less of an interruption for students.

The north gym's ceiling has been installed and painting began last week. Workers expect to refinish the gym floor this week and said the gym will be ready for the opening.

Seats and any hazardous waste have been removed from the middle school auditorium and workers are in the process of building a temporary wall so students can still have access to the stage. Seats are expected back in October and workers anticipate the auditorium's completion in mid-November. Furthermore, the middle school bathrooms are renovated and workers are just waiting for toilet partitions.

Dr. Stephen Leitman, superintendent of schools, noted renovation of the science wing would not affect seat time for lab work required of eighth graders taking the Regents exam.

Some ongoing projects will continue after the September school opening, including the science and library addition, the auditorium, unit ventilators for classrooms and other miscellaneous items.

All the asbestos from ceiling and floor tiles has been removed from the high school. The tennis courts are expected to be complete by Sept. 15 as well as the high school track. The parking lot should be finished by Sept. 1. The curbs in the parking lot have already been put in place and the base of the lot is expected to be complete this week.

The bathrooms are expected to be complete by school's opening. A total of six toilet rooms are being renovated; two near the cafeteria, two in the math wing and two near the English wing. The two near the cafeteria and the other two in the math wing will be back on line for next month's opening. The remaining two near the English wing won't be worked on until the other four are finished.

Workers removed asbestos from the corridors, and painting of the ceiling grids will occur as much as possible, with little interruption to students. Furthermore, ceiling grids should be installed in the art classrooms and science rooms this week. The science wing is now in phase one of renovation. Workers will complete phase two next year. Work on the high school library will continue after September.

Auditorium seat replacement will be done in January in order to allow fall shows and spring rehearsals to still take place. Windows should arrive in November, when workers will do a series of classrooms around the building. Workers are still waiting on unit ventilators for high school classrooms and other miscellaneous items.

Ken Monaghan, board of esducation president, did a walk through of the district's school buildings on Friday, Aug. 10. "When we were in a similar situation at Stratford School, many parents asked how will we open on time? We did and we'll open on time this year and education will take place," he said. "As parents walk into the high school, they'll see ceilings open everywhere. It looks quite dreadful but we have to remember the most important thing we've accomplished this summer is removing all the asbestos from that building."

Dr. Leitman also did a walk through recently. He assured parents "the buildings will be occupied unless, of course, the building is not safe. Will it be beautiful? Not all places, especially the hallways, but it will certainly be safe."