LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) – The Lafayette Parish School System is shelling out more than $5 million dollars to complete their goal of providing air conditioning for all public school gymnasiums in Lafayette ParishThrough consent agenda, the Lafayette Parish School Board approved Bernhard Mechanical to complete AC upgrades, to the tune of about $1.2 million, to Broussard Middle, Youngsville Middle, and Edgar Martin Middle.

LPSS Chief Administrative Officer Joe Craig says besides making the gyms more functional for events and school activities, it provides a safer space for students.

“We’ve actually had the LHSAA, the officials, shut down games because of the humidity on the floor and occasionally the heat. We are really interested in taking care of the kids, we also want the parents to be comfortable, ultimately, it’s the safety of the kids”, said Craig.

District nine school board member Jeremy Hidalgo has two school getting upgrades. He’s looking forward to his school gyms being air-conditioned for the first time since their inception.

Hidalgo said, “It’s not a user-friendly facility when there’s no air conditioning during summertime in south Louisiana. Our schools are supposed to be community places and this is just one step in the right direction.

With this bid approved, Craig is ready to get the ball rolling on the remaining nine schools without gym air conditioning.

“At the November 8th meeting, we’ve got nine schools left and that bid package will come out for all nine schools. You add six months to that and we should have air-conditioning in all of our gyms by next summer. We’re really excited about that!” Craig exclaims.Now that the board has approved the bid for Broussard, Youngsville, and Edgar Martin, the project should take about six months to complete.

The finances to pay for the projects come from capital funds that were budgeted by the board back in June.