Superintendent Blaine Hess announced last week that the State School Building Authority has agreed to fund a four-classroom addition to Evans Elementary School. Students at the school have, for several years, been attending class in portable classrooms parked behind the school.

The project will take care of part of the facility needs at the school. Funding may be sought in the future for more classrooms and a new cafeteria. Currently, the school has a multi-purpose room used for both a lunchroom and a gym.

The new classrooms will be equipped with modern, energy-efficient HVAC systems and protected by a sprinkler fire suppression system. Necessary wiring and cables will be hidden and high-efficiency lighting is planned. The classrooms will also be designed with security in mind. If all goes as planned, the rooms should be ready for occupancy in the fall of 2011.

The school has been named a West Virginia School of Excellence seven times.

SBA will contribute $876,380 to the Major Improvement Project. The county’s contribution will be an additional $154,656. Since 1990, SBA had given just over $9.9 million to Jackson County. That money had funded renovations at the two high schools and additions at Fairplain Elementary among other projects.

The next step in the process is for the Board of Education to accept the grant offer at the Board’s first meeting in January. That will be followed by hiring of an architect and the assembly of a bid package.