By ANGIE HAFLICH

ahaflich@gctelegram.com

USD 363 Board of Education members approved the Holcomb Elementary School remodeling project plans presented by Gibson, Mancini, Carmichael and Nelson Architects of Garden City Monday night. USD 363 Superintendent Jean Rush also presented enrollment numbers to the board.

With the board's unanimous approval of construction plans, the architectural firm got the green light to draw up construction specifications prior to the project being opened up for bids. The drawings are expected to be presented to the board in November and then bids will be presented at the Dec. 4 USD 363 school board meeting.

The project will include completely remodeled restrooms and updated entrances, among other improvements.

Rush also presented the board with early enrollment numbers for the Holcomb School District, prior to presenting the figures to the state this week. The enrollment numbers won't be official until a statewide audit in February.

She said that the actual number of students enrolled in the district is 988, but because some high school students are considered part-time, through the Holcomb Community Learning Center, the full-time equivalency is at 942.4.

FTE, which is calculated according to a state-mandated formula, is determined by dividing total student credit hours by 15.

"It's up. It's not as high as 2010-11, but it's up from last year and it's higher than our three-year average," Rush said.

There were 939 FTE students enrolled during the 2011-12 school year and 944 students enrolled in the 2010-11 school year.