Since the Dec. 2 lunch meeting discussing potential campus updates, headmaster Stephen Repsher and the Building and Grounds Committee have been busy planning the project.

Assuming the estimates are correct, these changes will cost almost exactly $100,000. This money will come out of the school’s PPRRSM (Provision for Plant Renewal, Repairs and Special Maintenance) capital budget, with some allocated from both the current and the next fiscal year.

The first of these updates is already visible. On May 18, construction workers came to the school armed with brand-new gym doors. The new doors are more modern, allow better visibility, and open more easily, Repsher said.

The gym has a total of 14 doors needing replacement, which will cost $28,000.

As requested by students, the large planter in front of the Matthews Library will be reconfigured. To spare the trees, it will not be completely removed. But the center of the planter, including the high wall, will be cleared out to create a path allowing passage to the library and to improve traffic flow in that area.

The rest of the planter, which will be divided into two separate parts, will be kept intact. The low walls along the side will extend along the new center path to act as both a divider and a place for students to sit and put down their books.

The cost of this project is estimated to be $18,000.

Also by student request, the tree next to the air-conditioning system in the high-school quad will be removed.

“The tree (currently) takes up too much space and the fruit it drops can be dangerous,” Repsher said. The removal of the tree will cost about $800.

Moving away from the high school, Repsher also plans to replace the “Big Toy” (the play structure) in the lower school. The wood on it has completely rotted away, Repsher said, and, instead of paying $30,000 to have it repaired, the school will spend $45,000 to buy a new toy.

This toy will be bigger and made of metal instead of wood so it will last longer, he said.

Finally, the three classrooms next to the art room in the middle school will be reconfigured into two larger classrooms. The rooms are currently too small, Repsher said. This change will cost $8000.

Repsher is also considering adding more awnings to the high-school campus for shelter from rain.

PPRRSM is part of the school’s capital budget rather than operating budget. An operating budget provides money for the necessary basics to keep the school running, such as salaries and electric bills. The capital budget covers everything else.

The money in this budget is supplied by bonds and is restricted to the Latham campus.

Likewise, money put aside for the Newton Booth campus could not be used on the Latham updates.

Repsher expects to finish all of the currently planned upgrades before August 20.