The Greene County Board of Education approved a low bid of $608,100 from Morristown-based EverHunt Builders Group on Thursday for construction of a new cafeteria at Ottway Elementary School.

After bids for the project were opened on Wednesday afternoon, Dr. Joe Parkins, director of Greene County Schools, told board members present that the low bid was $150,000 to $200,000 higher than he had hoped.

During Thursday's board meeting at the Greeneville-Greene County Center for Technology, Parkins said the board now will have to transfer another $300,000 from its undesignated fund balance to cover the cost of building the cafeteria.

Transferring additional funds from the undesignated fund balance, Parkins told the board, will leave the county school system with only the "minimum" amount of funds (about $1.3 million) that the system is required to maintain in the fund balance by state law.

However, Parkins pointed out to the board that the county school system is ending the 2007-08 school year with all of its budget categories "in the black."

As a result, he said, some $300,000 to $350,000 in unspent funds from the 2007-08 school year will be "rolled over" into the county school system's undesignated fund balance.

But after the $300,000 needed to complete the Ottway cafeteria project is transferred from the undesignated fund balance, only about $1.3 million will remain Parkins said. That equates to the minimum amount of funds (3 percent of the system's budget, or $1.3 million) that must be maintained under state law.

On the positive side, Parkins told the school board demolition of the existing Ottway Elementary cafeteria is expected to be completed by today or Monday.

Parkins also noted that EverHunt Builders Group, as part of its bid, had said it could complete construction of the new cafeteria within 120 days.

"That should get us into the cafeteria in October," Parkins told the board.

In the meantime, meals for Ottway students will be prepared by county school system food service workers in the kitchen of the Ottway Ruritan Club building near the school and transported to the school.

In another construction-related matter, the board also approved a low bid of $202,137 for the replacement of the South Greene High School roof that was submitted by Morristown Roofing Co.

During the Thursday county school board meeting, Dr. Parkins also updated the board on other construction projects.

Construction of a new athletic field house at North Greene High School is on schedule under the supervision of David Myers, the county school system's maintenance director.

"The roof is on and interior work is in progress," Parkins told the board.

The field house will be finished in time for it to be used during the upcoming football season, Parkins said.

Later in his monthly report to the board, Parkins announced that Myers' has been given the new title of director of facilities and plant operations.

That title, Parkins said, better reflects Myers' responsibilities.

Unfortunately, he said, because of current budget constraints the new title does not come with a salary increase.

Construction of band rooms at North Greene and South Greene High Schools remains behind schedule.

"I'm beyond frustration," Parkins said of the lack of progress toward completion of the band rooms by Parkway Contractors.

County school officials had hoped to have the band rooms completed in time for the opening of fall-semester classes in August.

But during an interview, Parkins said he now does not expect the North Greene band room to be completed before October. He said it might be January before the South Greene band room is finished.

The county school board also approved a lengthy list of low bids for goods and services for the 2008-09 school year during the meeting, including:

* diesel fuel at the "rack price," plus 14 cents per gallon, as submitted by Rush Oil Co.;

* gasoline at the "rack price," plus 15 cents per gallon, as submitted by Greeneville Oil & Petroleum;

* HVAC filters on a low bid of $15,119 as submitted by B&B filters;

* school bus video systems on a low bid of $915 per unit submitted by American Bus Video;

* pest control at a rate of $700 per month (for schools) and $200 per month (for cafeterias) submitted by Terminex;

* paint, on low bids for various types of paint, submitted by the Paintin' Place and Sherwin Williams;

* white boards on a low bid of $229 each submitted by Evans Office Supply; and

* transportation products on low bids submitted by Greeneville Oil & Petroleum and Kelso Oil.

The county board of education approved:

* a tuition-assistance plan that will give up to $2,000 in tuition assistance per year for teachers who wish to return to school to earn an endorsement in math or science;

* a request from Dr. Melinda Pruitt and Chuckey-Doak Middle School Principal Amy Brooks to build a restroom for the special-education classroom at the school;

* elimination of a vacant special-education assistant position at West Pines School;

* donation of a retired mini-bus to Rural Resources;

* the board's 2008-09 annual agenda;

* a request from the Chuckey-Doak High School Band Booster Club to hold a flag camp July 14-18 and a band camp July 21-25;

* volunteer coaches at South Greene High, including Robbie Cordwell, Bill Cordwell and Tony King for football, and Bill Dyers for boy's and girl's soccer;

* a request for an out-of-state field-trip to Indianapolis submitted by West Greene teacher Adam Short; and

* a high school student fee schedule for the 2008-09 school year, including: a math fee of $5 for calculators and batteries, a biology fee of $5 for microscope maintenance and a technology fee of $5 to cover the cost of keyboards and lost components.

However, the school board rejected imposition of an athletic fee of $25 to be paid by student athletes to help defray the cost of transportation that had been proposed by the principals of the four county high schools.

Board member Rex Hopson said he feared there were many athletes who could not afford to pay the proposed fee.

Dr. Parkins also told the board that he did not feel the proposed athletic fee was appropriate.

Last month, the board had voted to increase the per-mile charge that schools must pay to use school buses to transport athletes to away games to 75-cents per mile in an effort to help pay the increased cost of diesel fuel.

In another economy move, the school board's members agreed not to attend this fall's Tennessee School Boards Association annual meeting in Nashville.