Last week, the Troup County School Board voted to approve several different purchases, including donating $50,000 for the replacement scoreboard at Callaway Stadium.

The stadium scoreboard purchase was discussed during Monday night’s work session, and there was no more discussion on Thursday. The board approved the purchase unanimously.

The new scoreboard, in its entirety, will cost around $400,000, according to Cajen Rhodes director of the Troup County Parks and Recreation Department.

The stadium is used by Callaway High, Troup High, LaGrange High, LaGrange College and the local youth football teams. Each of the Troup County School System graduation ceremonies are also held at the stadium. Rhodes said about 160,000 people have attended events at the stadium this year, and 115 games have been played there.

Chromebooks purchase

The board also approved the purchase of Chromebooks sets for all secondary science and social studies teachers and ESOL teachers from Sterling Computers. The total cost of the computers was $149,248.15.

Callaway Middle School, Gardner Newman Middle School, Long Cane Middle School, Callaway High School, LaGrange High School and Troup High School will each receive six 10-pack sets of Chromebooks. Five 10-pack sets and a case were approved for five English for speakers of other languages teachers.  Long Cane Middle School and The Hope Academy will receive one set of 36 Chromebooks and a cart.

Superintendent Cole Pugh said that before this purchase the school system currently had around 4,200 Chromebooks.

Hillcrest and Rosemont renovations

The board also approved mechanical renovations to Hillcrest Elementary and Rosemont Elementary School. The combined cost of those projects was $502,434 and the work will be performed by Jackson Heating and Air. The work will take approximately 50 days to complete.

Assistant Superintendent John Radcliffe said the renovations are to help alleviate future mold problems, like the one Rosemont experienced earlier this year.

“Both schools were built about the same time,” Radcliffe said. “Both of them were experiencing similar issues.”

Biology lab renovations

The board also approved renovations for the Troup County High School Biology Lab at the cost of $443,248. Two bids were received and Torrance Construction Company was the winning bidder.

Playground equipment for new elementary school

The board also approved the purchase of new playground equipment for elementary school “A” on South Davis Road. The cost for the playground equipment from Playworld Preferred cost $134,454. Since the school system bought the equipment before the end of the year, it received a 15 percent discount. The budget for the playground equipment had been set at $150,000. The board also approved awarding the food service contract for the new elementary school to Mobile Fixtures in an amount not to exceed $450,000.