By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

The Shelby County Board of Education is making several upgrades to Pelham’s schools this summer, and is preparing to give the buildings a new look by the time classes resume.

This summer, crews have been working to complete projects ranging from installing new stair treads at Pelham High School to replacing the roof at Valley Elementary School.

“I saw them replacing the roof at VES and I decided to go take some pictures to let everyone know what was going on,” Pelham Mayor Gary Waters said on July 3 shortly after posting photos of the renovation work on the city’s Facebook page. “I was pleased to see a flurry of activity at the schools.”

In addition to replacing the VES roof, crews also are installing new floor and ceiling tiles and repainting the PHS auditorium lobby, refurbishing the PHS restroom floors, installing new stair treads on all PHS stairwells and repainting all PHS restrooms.

The new floor in the auditorium lobby will feature the PHS logo.

Other projects at PHS include installing new vinyl tile in the gym stairwells and balcony areas, installing new ceilings in the upper and lower halls between the cafeteria and the school’s new addition and installing new toilet partitions in one boys’ restroom.

Waters said the projects were approved and funded by the SCBOE before Pelham leaders began considering forming a separate Pelham city school system.

“I emailed (Deputy Superintendent) Tom (Ferguson), and he said this was not in response to talk of Pelham forming its own school system. This was regular maintenance they approved before those talks began.

“When you’ve got a school designed to hold 1,000 students that currently serves 1,800 students, it’s hard to do these things while school is still in,” Waters said. “The summertime is really the only chance they have to do these things. It’s going to look really different once school starts back.”