ECS working on options for graduation

Enterprise City Schools Superintendent Greg Faught said that the school system is looking at options to be able to still have the 2021 graduation ceremony on campus at Enterprise High School despite the plan for the instillation of new turf at Wildcat Stadium.

Last week, the Enterprise Board of Education approved the bid for the installation of new synthetic turf at Wildcat Stadium, which is estimated to be a 70-day process, with the need to get started as soon as possible because of contracts and prices of building materials. Still, Faught said the school system is weighing options to still have graduation at Wildcat Stadium or somewhere else on campus.

“The contractors bid on things like that based on what they think they can get the material for during the set timeframe,” Faught said. “We are going to see if we can purchase that material right now and just store it and allow them to get started on (the installation) right after graduation.

“We are looking at all options to be able to keep graduation on campus. We’re looking at Wildcat Stadium and the Performing Arts Center. We’re trying to look at all options to be able to have it on campus.”

Faught said that the cost of the building materials rising over time is the primary cause for needing to either start the project as soon as possible or at least be able to purchase the materials ahead of time.

“For some materials, because of COVID and hurricanes and other factors, we’re paying as much as three times as much (for building materials) as we were even a few months ago,” Faught said. “It is really important that we get off the ground with these projects as quickly as possible because of that.

“There is an outside chance it would be ready (by graduation) but I can’t promise that. So, we’re going to look into purchasing the materials and storing them so that we can get to it after graduation. That may not be the reality, though.”

Faught said that the No. 1 priority for the school system was new HVAC systems and roof replacements at a number of schools in the system but those projects were unable to get started for some time.

“(The turf) isn’t even priority No. 1, it’s just the one we could get to first,” Faught said. “Our HVAC and roof systems are the top priority but because of access of materials we won’t be able to start on those for some time.”

A decision will be made on where graduation will be held in the coming weeks and the school system will then begin informing parents and students of the location for graduation.