New school calendar is approved Tuesday night

The 2018-2019 school calendar was adopted by the Grady County Board of Education and it is similar to calendars being adopted in neighboring school systems, according to School Superintendent Dr. Kermit Gilliard.
The superintendent said over 70 percent of the faculty and staff approved of the calendar he recommended to the board Tuesday night.
School will begin on Friday, Aug. 3, 2018 and the last day of school will be May 24, 2019, which is three days before Memorial Day.
The approved calendar includes one week for fall break, Oct. 8 – Oct. 12, 2018 as well as one week for Thanksgiving break, Nov. 19 – Nov. 23, 2018.
The last day of school before the Christmas break will be Friday, Dec. 21, 2018. Spring Break is set for April 1 – April 5, 2019.
The board also accepted a bid to air condition the gymnasium at Washington Middle School. According to Dr. Gilliard, W.M.S. has raised approximately $30,000 in donations to go toward the project and the low bid received from Carter-Wilkes Heating & Air for $89,450 can be paid with a $50,000 appropriation approved previously by the board of education.
A second bid, from Parker’s Heating and Cooling, was received and totaled $109,150.00.
“Yeah, finally,” commented board member Laura Register.