In less than two months, the Mandan Middle School should be complete.

The classroom wing is on its final walk-through this week, while work continues in the other areas. Architect Al Fitterer updated the Mandan School Board on the progress at the school board meeting Monday night.

Only the gym floor could keep the school from being ready by the anticipated July 18 completion date. Even then, Fitterer expects it would be ready by beginning of August, and definitely in time for fall sports and the beginning of school.

Later this week, desks, chairs and office furniture will be delivered, business manager Joe Lukach said.

In May, 20 Promethean boards were installed in the classrooms. The boards, which can be used as a whiteboard, also are computer interactive. They were installed, however, after traditional whiteboards were installed in the classrooms. This cost the district $5,349 to remove and refinish the walls where the traditional white boards had been.

The board also decided to spend $1,902 to install wood blocking in the floor joist of the gym where the portable bleachers will be set up while in use. This will cover about a 12-foot-by-80-foot area.

Also, the board approved changes to student handbooks for the next year. Besides small word changes, there were minor changes to dress codes and updates to credit requirements. One change will be the addition of a lunch policy. Some parents were upset when their children were denied a lunch and could not charge the last two weeks of school when their children did not have money, Superintendent Wilfred Volesky said.

The no-charge policy the last two weeks of school was done to help food service to recoup its costs, child nutrition director Liz Pilgrim said. Next year, students will be allowed to charge a lunch, she said.

(Reach reporter Sara Kincaid at 250-8251 or sara.kincaid@bismarcktribune.com.)