PRINEVILLE, OR -- Construction crews have worked all summer on nearly every school in Crook County and School District officials say they’re on track and will be ready for students in three short weeks. District Project Manager Jerry Milstead tells KBND, "The big to-do is the new elementary school, to get that ready and online for this fall school year. We’re doing remodeling at the high school, the middle school; we’re going to start remodeling at Cecil Sly this fall, and we’re remodeling Paulina School."

He says middle and high school students will notice changes when they first enter their buildings. "What the students will see, and the public will see, is a new, more secure entry into the High School. And, a remodel is taking place on the front office, in order to accommodate the different traffic flow for security purposes."

But the biggest changes are at the elementary level. "Ochoco Elementary school will no longer operate. This coming year, Crooked River Elementary School will operate as an elementary school, as well as the new Barnes Butte Elementary School. Cecil Sly is shut down for this school year, so we will go in and remodel it. In the fall of 2016, Cecil Sly will reopen and Crooked River will no longer be an elementary school for the district," says Milstead. By the time the dust settles next fall, Crook County will have only two elementary schools: Barnes Butte and Cecil Sly.