Modernization continues at Magnolia district schools

Magnolia School District schools are undergoing construction, after receiving a total of $24 million dollars in combined funds from the state, the county, and a bond measure last year. Modernization projects are in the later phases at Lord Ba den-Powell, Walt Disney, Peter Marshall, Robert Pyles, Jonas Salk, Albert Schweitzer and Esther Walter schools. Juliette Low and Mattie Lou Maxwell schools will begin construction within the next year. "We chose the schools with the most needs first,"said Rick Turrentine, deputy superintendent of resources and services. "Our goal is to eventually renovate all nine schools in the district." The district is upgrading alarm systems, reworking the underground electrical and plumbing fixtures, replacing old heating systems and installing air conditioning, among other projects. The schools have been around since the 1950s. Turrentine, who has been in the district for 24 years and has spent half of those years in his current position, said the schools have never been modernized. "We have maintained our schools on a regular basis," Turrentine said, through painting and other maintenance projects. "In fact our schools look good, but there are infrastructure things that need to be done and many seem to hit at 30 to 40 years of a building's life." Turrentine said the useful life of a building is about 40 years. After that, schools must either be torn down or rebuilt. The schools that have gone through modernization projects have experienced some inconvenience. Most teachers and students have shifted into portable classrooms. "I'm sure it's inconvenient," Turrentine said. "But unfortunately, that's how it is on construction sites. However, we try to see how we can minimize the problem." Marshall and Pyles are scheduled to be complete in June, Schweitzer and Salk in August. Walter is scheduled to be complete in January 2004 and Disney and Baden-Powell in February. The N.E.W. Program Surgeons Dr. Brian Quebbemann is among the most experienced surgeons in the country performing minimally invasive gastric bypass and Lap procedures. He performs 98% of weight-loss procedures laparoscopically. Dr. Dallal has performed hundreds of complex laparoscopic bariatric surgeries. He completed the year-long Mark Ravitch Leon C. Hirsch fellowship in minimally invasive bariatric surgery at the University of Pittsburgh, one of the most prominent training programs in the country. The N.E.W. Program The N.E.W. Program is used nationally as a model for establishing comprehensive surgical weight control programs. Successful laparoscopic bariatric surgery has been performed on patients who weigh over 500 pounds. Laparoscopic weight-loss surgery involves tiny incisions, about one-lialf inch long. Patients typically leave the hospital on the first or second day following surgery. Many patients take no pain medication by the fourth post-operative day.