By Tabitha Evans Moore
Editor & Publisher
LYNCHBURG, Tenn. — Being little is hard. Being little and trying to hit the school toilet with 100 percent accuracy is also hard, and so, the Moore County Board of Education unanimously voted to help a stinky situation at Lynchburg Elementary on Monday.
The Board voted unanimously to upgrade 12 small bathrooms tucked inside kindergarten and pre-K classrooms at the elementary school on Monday. All will get a floor-to-wall epoxy makeover.
The bathrooms were not originally built as bathrooms at all. When the school’s classrooms in what staff call the “99 wing” were constructed, the small closets attached to each kindergarten and pre-K room were built for storage. They were later converted into individual student restrooms, complete with the linoleum flooring typical of the era.
That original linoleum is now failing. School officials described it as old, foul-smelling and in need of replacement across all 12 bathrooms.
The board considered three options, ranging from about $10,000 to remove the linoleum and seal the bare concrete, up through a full epoxy treatment similar to the flooring already installed in restrooms at the high school, estimated between $25,000 and $30,000.
“You got to seal it, you got to caulk it so nothing gets under that,” Director Moorehead explained.
Board members ultimately chose the most thorough — and most expensive — option: epoxy flooring with the coating wrapped four inches up the walls in each bathroom. School officials said the extra step creates a sealed, non-slip barrier that keeps moisture from getting into the walls or under the flooring, an added protection they considered worthwhile given the age of the students using the bathrooms.
The project will be paid for out of the district’s capital projects fund, which currently holds $150,000.
The school system will execute the demolition itself to save a little money, according to Director Moorehead. Contractors are expected to finish the bulk of the epoxy work during the school system’s fall break, though the process will take a few extra days beyond a standard flooring job because each epoxy coat must cure for a full day before the next step.
Board Chair Tanya Vann made the motion to approved the project and Kaleigh Hatfield seconded it. The motion passed unanimously.
The Moore County Board of Education meets every second Monday of the month at either the Central Office, located behind the elementary school, or the MCHS Library. Per Board policy, agendas are posted 96 hours prior to the meeting and community members wishing to add an item to the agenda must do so 10 days prior to the meeting. Any Moore County resident or student legal guardian may be added to the public comment section of the meeting by contacting Director Moorehead in writing by 4 p.m. the day of the meeting. •
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