LINDEN &8212; Although funds have not come in as quickly or abundantly as they hoped, the Linden Board of Education is moving forward with plans to make much-needed improvements to the Linden High School gym.

Even with recently acquired bond money for capital improvements and extra incentive funds from the state legislature, the system is still short of the amount needed to build a new gym complex. After consulting with architects, Collier was told the average price for such a project is approximately $1.8 million.

In light of such costs, Collier asked the board to approve a second round of bidding to renovate the current gym, which would ultimately be more cost effective. Renovation plans for the project have already been drawn up and bid out once, but the returned bids were out of the system&8217;s price range.

The board approved the proposal, and Collier said he intends to continue searching for funding sources and partnering with the city of Linden in order to make the project a reality.

In other financial matters, the board made their final steps in securing the state&8217;s mandate of having on hand one month&8217;s operating budget. After submitting a preliminary plan for Linden City Schools to the state showing their compliance of the School Fiscal Accountability law, the board approved a formal resolution to the same effect.

The board also discussed the state&8217;s most recent proposal regarding diploma requirements for high school students. According to the new proposal, which would go into effect this fall if the state board approves it, there would be only two options for diplomas: a Alabama High School diploma or an Alabama Occupational Diploma. Within the Alabama High School diploma guidelines, there would be four different endorsements, or kinds of diplomas a student could receive.

The standard diploma for Alabama high school graduation would be equivalent to what is now known as the Advanced Academic Endorsement. Those students who did not wish to remain on that diploma track could choose from a career technical endorsement, advanced career technical endorsement or credit-based endorsement.

Collier said he supports the proposal, saying the basic ideas of it would benefit the students of Linden City Schools.

The proposal also includes provisions for a credit recovery program that would allow students to earn credit for courses by either taking them in the summer or after school in order to ensure they receive their diploma. The state board is expected to vote on the proposal this month.

In other business, the board:

approved the report from the textbook committee and adopted the entire list of state-approved textbooks for language arts and driver and traffic safety courses.