The Lewis Central School Board on Sept. 8 heard detailed plans for a major middle-school renovation next year and a package of safety and site upgrades that the district expects to complete over the coming months.

A presenter told the board the district is "looking to have a budget of about $7,500,000 to renovate the middle school next year." The presenter said the bulk of that amount would pay for infrastructure work — HVAC updates, plumbing, sewer work and some electrical and exterior-envelope work — while interior updates would include flooring, paint and potentially ceiling tiles.

On security, the presenter said the district has installed a Raptor badge system paid for from state safety allocations: "the state gave us $50,000 per building. We just actually applied for the the refund. And that money went into these badge systems that every staff member has." The Raptor system will include strobes and a badge-activated alert that can map a reported location and, once fully switched over, will trigger a lockdown, notify law enforcement and display alerts on district screens if repeatedly activated. The presenter said the district is still completing the onboarding process with Raptor and asked for a short period to finish configuration before the system triggers full automatic responses.

District representatives also gave timing for other site projects: the high-school tennis courts were reported "about ready for surfacing" with navy-and-gray colors selected; a craft playground was awaiting a concrete pour and surfacing and could open for students after the surfacing cures; the Titan Hill playground equipment was already being installed with mid-October completion expected for several projects. The high-school parking lot resurfacing was identified as finished and drawing positive public comment.

The presenter also told the board that new parking-lot cameras and license-plate readers should be installed "by sometime in October," and cautioned students that late-night parking activity could be recorded for campus safety purposes.

No formal vote was taken on the items discussed; the board heard these as planning and informational items. The presenter said the district is beginning the next phase of planning and budgeting for additional work next summer, including LED lighting and parking-lot projects at other campuses.