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VIDALIA, La. — As Concordia Parish School Board is beginning to obtain bids for the exterior remodel of Ferriday High School, fundraising efforts to refurnish the interior classrooms will soon be under way.

Ferriday High School is “the oldest (school) building in the parish,” said school board member Fred Butcher during the regular school board meeting on Thursday.

The remodel project is scheduled to be out for bid beginning March 27 and sealed bids will be opened April 1, he said.

“I’m excited to finally get the bids in to see where we are with the Ferriday High School project,” Butcher said. He added that once bids are received, the district may need to do some “value engineering” to get the cost down to the amount that has been appropriated for the project.

The school board approved a limited tax bond to fund the renovation, estimated to cost around $5.5 million.

More than $1.4 million of the project cost comes from moving unsightly utility lines and electrical lines underground and resurfacing the parking lot, as well as adding an additional lot for bus parking behind the school.

The project also entails painting the building in cool gray colors, installing shade structures and outdoor seating areas, and enhancements to the gymnasium entrance with glowing event center lights and a sidewalk and plaza in front.

The school board hired M3A Architecture firm based in Jackson to design the improvements.

Butcher said the school is conducting a brick sale where residents or Ferriday alumni can purchase commemorative bricks to go in the walkway in front of the school as a fundraiser to put new furniture in each classroom. Businesses or community groups also may “adopt a classroom” to pay for its furniture, officials said.

“We would like very much to put new furniture in all of those classrooms,” Butcher said.

In other matters during Thursday’s meeting, the school board adopted a policy for searching students but chose not to adopt a policy concerning use of cellphones at school because may “conflict” with new state laws, according to school board member Derrick Carson.

Act 313, signed into law by Governor Jeff Landry in May 2024, mandates that students cannot have cell phones or other electronic telecommunication devices on their person during the school day.

The school board said it would have a committee review its cellphone policy and bring a new policy to the board for approval.

The school board also recognized Citizenship Award winners in grades pre-kindergarten through second grade. From Concordia Parish Academy recipients are Timothy Hunt, Swayze Brashier, Karter Watson and Khloe McGraw; from Ferriday Lower Elementary, Jhaila Day, Laurynn King, Uriana Kelly and DeAndre Scott; from Monterey, Rosey Trant, Catherine DeLatte, Easton Tiffee and Hazeleigh Knighten; and from Vidalia Lower Elementary, Pais’Leigh-Grace Green, William Messer, Thomas Dutton and Johana Escamilla Perez.

Board members Lisette Forman, Matt Taunton and Superintendent Toyua Bachus were not present during Thursday’s meeting.