HAMILTON — School officials say no more than a dozen classrooms will be worked on at a time during a five-phase, 15-month, $10 million renovation project that begins next month at Garfield Junior High School.

        When completed in August 2003, Garfield will become the first Hamilton school upgraded as part of a 10-year, $176 million facilities plan in a partnership with the Ohio School Facilities Commission, which will pay 59 percent of the cost. The rest of the money is coming from a 1999 bond issue.

        “We feel that's a very good time frame in terms of (minimizing) disruption,” Superintendent Janet Baker said Tuesday during a community meeting at Garfield to explain the project.

        Six double-wide modular units will be set up in the parking area behind the school's gymnasium during construction, said Jim Boerke, director of planning and construction management. As classrooms are renovated, students will move to the 10 classrooms and science lab in the portable units.

        Construction crews will set up trailers and refuse bins at the south end of the school site to isolate traffic, said Denny Humble, construction manager. Workers will have photo identification and numbers on their hard hats for security. There will also be security cameras on top of the gymnasium and in the cafeteria looking onto the main hallway.

        No decision has been made yet on background checks for workers, but “if we have any troublemakers at all, they are out of here,” Mr. Humble said.

        Work will be done in five phases, each lasting about three months. The first phase begins at the end of June and includes asbestos removal, converting the library to four classrooms and preparing the building for renovation, Mr. Humble said. The project will include new mechanical systems and a new look for the school.

        Principal Dennis Malone said that during construction, the school would offer the same courses and after-school programs but might change the orientation for incoming seventh-graders, who would likely have most of their classes in the modular classrooms. Mr. Malone said he would continue to update parents and will schedule an open house in September, when construction progress would be reviewed.

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