LUMBERTON, Texas — The largest bond project in Lumberton history, approved by voters in 2019 and worth $79 million to improve four campuses, is almost finished.
The high-tech makeovers will be finished by the time students head back to classes next month.
No expense was spared on the upgrades that were needed to keep up with all of the growth in the district according to Lumberton Independent School District Superintendent Dr. Tony Tipton.
Every campus in the school district has a new security system, an interactive media center and the high school got a chef's dream kitchen to practice culinary arts.
"Any time that a community comes together to basically increase their own taxes for the benefit of the school district that's a huge deal," Tipton told 12News.
The district allowed 12News to take a tour to show what students will find they come to school this fall.
"We want a product that's going to be here for many many years. But, we also want a product that the community and the parents and the kids can be proud of for many years," Tipton explained.
Students are expected to enjoy running, jumping and playing at the new early childhood campus playground.
Inside they'll enjoy new classrooms, a media center and a brand new gym.
"A double classroom that had a wall removed and was called an activity room. But now they have a full size gym," Tipton said.
The biggest expansion happened at Lumberton Intermediate School.
"The place we're sitting right now didn't exist because it's a new building, but this campus was our middle school. And the current middle school campus was our intermediate school. So we flip flopped the campuses."
The intermediate campus got a brand new wing with a large multipurpose library and media center, a new cafeteria with a stage and 16 new classrooms.
Lumberton Middle School got a band and choir hall, a new media center and state of the art science labs.
"Actual chemical storage, it has all the safety features to keep the chemicals secure it has ventilation hoods, and showers and eye washes, and cook stations," Tipton told 12News.
At the high school there's new space for career and technical education programs.
They Include a brand new culinary kitchen, a dog grooming lab and a welding shop.
"If you want to have a strong community you have to always start with a strong school district. Because the strong school district promotes business growth," Tipton says.
All schools in Lumberton now have new security systems, including cameras and vape detectors in bathrooms.
Workers have also installed security controlled gates and bullet resistant glass at the front of each campus.
Tipton says everything should be ready for the start of school year next month.
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This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.