EASLEY — The School District of Pickens County is continuing to make strides on its $315 million school facilities improvement project — which includes construction of four new high schools — with work underway at one site and a contractor approved for another.

On Wednesday, district officials led a tour of the new Liberty High School site on Ruhamah Road, where work began following a June 9 board meeting in which school board members approved McMillan-Carter, Inc. of Greer as site contractor. The approved work bid was $7,419,310.

“The Liberty High work site is in full swing,” said Julie Thompson, director of communications for the school district.

During a meeting Monday night, board members also approved a $4.8 million contract to Cox & Floyd for site work at the new Pickens High School. Site development on the 144 acres along U.S. Highway 178 is scheduled to begin this summer.

In March, the school district conducted a daylong schedule of groundbreakings that began at the site of the new Pickens High School and continued on at the sites for the new Liberty, Easley and Daniel high schools. The new Liberty High will open in August 2010, followed by the new Pickens High and Easley High schools during Christmas Break of that year. Daniel High School is set to open in fall 2011.

According to the school district, a pre-bid conference for the Easley High site package will be conducted today. Site package bids will be due back to the district by July 31, with a bid award expected to come during a board meeting Aug. 11.

School officials have already appeared before Easley City Council, requesting annexation of the new school into the city. Although two readings are required, council approved the first reading.

Thompson said Daniel High, the last of the four new high schools to be constructed, since it will occur on the same site as the existing facility, is looking at a late fall or early winter time frame for bids.

The Wednesday tour also included a look at renovations to Pickens Elementary School. Pickens County Superintendent Lee D’Andrea said the district’s elementary projects began there due to heating, ventilation and cooling issues at the facility.

“Mold was only being cleaned superficially, so the air quality problems were never fully addressed,” D’Andrea said, adding, “The environment was not healthy or safe.”

Not only does the building project include four new high schools, with all-inclusive athletic facilities, it also features the following:

• State-of-the-art career and technology center;

• Renovations to the present high schools (except for Daniel High, which will be demolished) as state-of-the-art middle schools;

• Renovation to Edwards Middle and the addition of a new wing;

• Demolition of the present Liberty Middle and construction of a new Liberty primary school for grades 4K- through second-grade on the same site;

• Renovation of Liberty Elementary School to house third- through fifth- grades only;

• Construction of a new Dacusville Elementary School and updating all elementary schools to safety and security standards of the districts; and

• Wiring all schools to handle technology needs and the elimination of portables across the district.

D’Andrea said that, as each project is completed, the renovated school would be placed on a districtwide preventative maintenance cycle. The schedule includes heating, ventilation and cooling systems, security systems, electrical systems, painting and other building systems.

“We are committed to protecting the taxpayers’ investment through our preventative maintenance system,” she said. “With that system in place, we will ensure safe, quality facilities for many years to come.”