New classrooms at Clovis High

Clovis High School students will have 11 new classrooms this fall, thanks to renovations being carried out by the school district, Assistant Superintendent Lonnie Leslie said.

The $9 million renovation means the portable buildings that have clustered around Clovis High School will be moved to other district schools where renovations will begin later this year, Leslie said.

The results of the work include nine new regular classrooms, an expanded art room and an expanded industrial arts room, Leslie said.

Improvements to the high school also include a new roof and gas- and/or electricity-powered heat pumps that can provide individually adjustable heat and cooling for each school room, he said.

Additional work, which includes a heat pump for Rock Staubus Gymnasium, will take about a year and a half to complete, he said.

Dan Bildilli, the district’s assistant director for maintenance, said work at Clovis High School included bringing all classrooms up to current building codes, which required replacing doors and putting in a new fire alarm system.

The construction is being done by Wilson and Wilson General Contractors Inc., and Newt and Butch’s Roofing and Sheet Metal Inc., he said.

One of Clovis High Schools’ portable buildings will be moved to Mesa Elementary and six will be moved to Marshall Junior High School, where a $2.8 million renovation will begin once bids are awarded, possibly as early as August, Leslie said.

Elsewhere in the district, more than $1 million in renovations at Yucca Junior High School are slated for the fall, he said.

Funding for construction work on all the schools came from grants from the state’s Public School Critical Capital Outlay Council, which awards grants based on schools’ needs.

The average age of school buildings in Clovis Municipal Schools is 48 years, Leslie said.