MOUNDSVILLE — A $924,300 bid for security improvements at Washington Lands Elementary was accepted Tuesday evening, coming in significantly under what was expected, according to an official with Marshall County Schools.

Facilities Director Mike Price said Tuesday that the security upgrades represented Phase One of a two-phase project at the school.

The bid package was awarded to Lombardi Development Company, Inc. of Follansbee, said the bid turnout beat out earlier expectations, which estimated that the work would come in around $1.2 million, Price told the board.

“We had a really good bid turnout; we were well below our initial budget, we had around $1.2 million. I can’t be any happier with how this worked out,” Price told the board.

The security upgrades concern the main entryways and windows around the perimeter of the school.

Washington Lands has maintained its current design since 1976.”We’re eliminating some of the classroom exits, which are not needed,” Price said in an interview prior to the board meeting.

“We’re infilling some of those areas, but the security aspect of the project is that we’re putting higher-quality doors in, with ballistic-grade glass in the windows, and we’re putting security partition walls in each pod of the classrooms, in order to have complete, secured areas in place.”

The security partitions, Price said, would allow staff to secure parts of the building in the event of an emergency.

Over the last four years, the school district has been working on improving security at various schools throughout the county. Washington Lands is the fourth security upgrade undertaken in the last five years, while evaluations are ongoing at other facilities.

Price said the next project lined up is Phase Two of the improvements at Washington Lands, which consists of an all-purpose room to be added to the building.

This room will serve as a gymnasium/cafeteria area, along with ceiling and lighting upgrades throughout the whole school.

In other board matters, the board approved personnel items, notably approving Bob Wilson as the county’s Career Technical Education director, effective July 1. Wilson will be taking the place of Scott Varner, who is retiring at the end of the school year.

“We certainly are thrilled and excited to have you following your mentor there,” said board president John Miller. “With Scott Varner, you certainly have big shoes to fill, but you’ve been walking behind and beside him for quite a while, and we’re thrilled that you’re going to take the baton and carry it on. … We’re excited for you, and we’ll support you anyway we can.”

“I think between the two of them, good things are going to happen,” added superintendent Shelby Haines.