EASLEY  Eighty percent of the projects included in the school district’s building program have either been completed or are underway, according to officials.

Bob Folkman, who is heading up the program, said that 22 percent of the project is complete, compared to 13 percent in July 2009.

Folkman said that 85 percent of the workforce on the various projects are from either Pickens County or the state of South Carolina, with those workers pumping money into the economy.

He also said of the 222 companies working on the projects, 14 are based in Pickens County, and another 115 from the state, making up a total of 58 percent of the companies.

The remainder of the companies are based out of state, Folkman said.

School board members voted Monday night to approve the indoor color schemes and finishing materials for the new Liberty High School and the new career center.

Liberty’s indoor colors will include a lot of shades of red to reflect the school’s mascot, the Red Devils, according to architects.

The tile that will be used on the majority of the floors has a 20 to 30 year life expectancy.

For the vocational school, architects reported that school administrators asked that the color pallet not include any of the colors of the four high school, so a neutral pallet was used.

Board member B.J. Skelton said eh thought the colors “looked a little drab,” but since that’s what was requested, he would not vote against it.

“I don’t see why they couldn’t use the four colors,” he said.

However, board chairman Jim Shelton said the neutral color gave the career center an identity of its own.

The board also voted 7-1 to move a line item in the building fund budget in order to purchase new computers for Dacusville Middle School and Edwards Middle School.

“The current models of computers in these schools are six to seven years old,” said Tim Tim Newman. “Due to the required network system changes, the current computers will no longer work with the new systems.”

Newman recommended, and the board approved, moving the cabling requirements out of the building program technology budget for those two schools.

“Those requirements could now be met under the regular building program budget,” he said. “This move would free up enough money to accomplish purchasing, outright, the computers for these two schools.”

The estimated cost of the cabling needs is $230,000, but this will not be an additional cost, just a shift in funds, according to finance director Missy Campbell.

“We would like to have the computers available when school starts,” she said.

Newman and Campbell advised members of the board that the school district will face the same issue next year with the completion of the new high schools “given the initial projections for next year’s general fund budgets.”

Board member Alex Saitta voted against the fund shift.