By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer

The Chilton County Board of Education moved replacing the roof at Verbena High School to the top of the five-year capital plan during a meeting on Aug. 21.

The project had originally been listed as third on the proposed list.

The five-year capital plan was later unanimously approved.

Board member Jim Shannon asked that replacing the VHS roof be made the top priority, and Vice President Joe Mims made the motion to vote on the change.

Currently, the project budget is listed as $100,000.

Board member Pam Price asked if a metal roof could be installed instead of the same type of room that is on the building.

Maintenance director Freddy Smith said this was an option, but would cost more money. He estimated the cost to be $750,000 to put a metal roof on the building.

The project is scheduled to be funded in the 2019 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

An addition to Jemison High School to accommodate band students was named the second priority. This project is estimated to cost $250,000 and be funded in the 2019 fiscal year. It is estimated to take a year to complete.

“She doesn’t even have a room large enough to hold them now,” Price said.

Jemison High School Principal Diane Calloway said middle and high school students would be using the building.

There are 176 band students that would benefit from the project.

Other projects scheduled to be funded in 2019 included a multipurpose building for Clanton Middle to be funded in partnership with the booster club and paving the front parking lot of Chilton County High School.

Other projects included:

• Football stadium bleacher improvements at JHS (funded 2020)
• Football bleacher replacement at VHS (funded 2021)
• A multipurpose building for VHS (funded 2022)
• Playground renovations at Thorsby High School (funded 2022)
• Replacing flooring at Jemison Middle School to remove wax tile (funded 2022)
• Renovating football bleachers at Chilton County High School (funded 2022)
• Replacing THS roof (funded 2023)
• Replacing all buildings for VHS, CCHS and JHS (funded 2023)