Athens city leaders approve repair funds for HEART Academy at Julian Newman Elementary

Athens, Ala. (WAFF) - It’s a race against the clock to get the Heart Academy at Julian Newman elementary school repaired and ready for students in less than two weeks.

Athens City School leaders approved $331,000 in repairs after the school got hit with major storm damage last week during a special called board meeting.

The gymnasium’s roof at the school saw immense damage. The school also had significant flooding that impacted two classrooms.

Superintendent Beth Patton said there would usually be a process of putting out bids and waiting to make it public, however, due to the nature of this emergency, there was a rush put on it.

The bids went out Thursday morning, and the board decided to go with MG Roofing Inc. for $331,000. She and the rest of the board agreed that this is vital.

“It has to be done,” said Superintendent Patton, “You can’t have a school without a roof so it definitely has to be done and Safety is the most important thing. Everything that we do is wrapped around how we keep everybody safe. So getting this done quickly is very important to us.”

School is still expected to start on schedule August 9th. And the superintendent said the roof should be fully completed within about 30 days.

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