COQUILLE — Coquille’s three schools are getting spiffed up as the district and families prepare for new grade configurations this fall.

By the time it’s done, the Coquille School District will have undergone a $3.5 million makeover. The largest chunk of that, $2.18 million, will re-roof all three schools.

On Thursday, the smell of tar wafted through Lincoln School of Early Learning’s hallways as crews repaired its roof. Coquille Junior-Senior High and Coquille Valley Elementary’s roofs will be repaired next summer.

This expensive overhaul is thanks to a Qualified Zone Academy Bond that will fund everything except for $150,000 to replace 26-year-old buses (the district will pull funds from maintenance to cover the bill). The district will get 70 percent reimbursement from the state, said superintendent Tim Sweeney.

Acquiring the bond was a relief, he said, since its low interest rate means the district will have to pay back less than $400,000 in interest over the bond’s life. In comparison, when the district went out for a $3.5 million bond 14 years ago, interest would have totaled $2.4 million.

There will be several repairs districtwide:

“We’re scrambling,” Sweeney said, “but the vast majority will be ready to go by the time school starts (Sept. 2).”

COQUILLE — The Coquille school district will look entirely different this fall as grades are redistributed through its three buildings.

Lincoln School of Early Learning (full-day kindergarten, pre-kindergarten, Head Start)

Sweeney expects 60 full-day kindergartners, 40 preschoolers and 20 Head Start kids will walk through Lincoln’s doors this fall.

Head Start is moving in to the building’s basement. It requires several updates, but they’re footing the bill: creating a bathroom out of a former custodial closet, expanding the kitchen and turning the library into a classroom.

The upstairs hallway will house a combined computer lab and library room, three kindergarten rooms, one preschool room, two early intervention rooms, and two Head Start rooms.

Walking out Lincoln’s doors, Sweeney points toward the baseball field, where fences are bowing and the backstop is in shambles. A new $5,000 backstop is on its way, and the field’s fences will be replaced.

“They’re a tetanus shot and a lawsuit waiting to happen,” he said.

The playground will be fenced in (a Head Start requirement) and covered. The dinosaur will be sandblasted, repainted and moved to Coquille Valley Elementary, and North Bend is donating playground equipment to Lincoln. Head Start will also repair the basketball court’s blacktop, preparing it for tricycle lessons.

Coquille Valley Elementary School (grades 1-6)

Most concerns lie with Coquille Valley.

“It’s not a very picturesque building,” Sweeney said.

The district is trying to eliminate that image, which parents often compare to a prison due to its drab interior, leaky ceiling and few windows.

Now, the walls are fresh compared to the old dingy yellow: They were brightened with coats of white paint (they hadn’t been painted since the school was built 42 years ago), and each teacher got to choose a color for his or her classroom’s accent wall.

“Painting this was just a booger,” he said, since the walls soaked up every drop of paint they could, adding another $1,000 to the district’s paint bill.

Sweeney wants to install Solatubes once the ceiling is repaired next year, to let in more natural light.

With younger students moving in, the school board was concerned about the bus waiting area. When it rains, older kids huddled up under a small alcove. Now, the elementary students will have a long covering to stand under while they wait.

The playground “is not fantastic,” Sweeney said, looking toward a sparse collection out the back doors. The plan is to expand access to the lower fields, hooking up to existing pipes and installing landscaping and a walkway.

The most noticeable project over the last week was the demolition of Coquille Valley’s neighbor, the old Lincoln school. It was built in 1926, but hasn’t been used for 15 years.

“It had asbestos, lead paint and it wasn’t ADA accessible,” Sweeney said as Benny Hempstead Excavating Inc. workers knocked down the building in the distance. “It was a huge eyesore.”

In its place, the district will install $105,000 of new playground equipment.

Coquille Junior-Senior High School (grades 7-12)

Thankfully, nothing has to change on the high school side. The district is revamping one wing to house the incoming 110 seventh- and eighth-graders.

The junior high wing has a new bathroom and there’s a divider separating the junior high and high school hallways, meaning seniors still have their own section of lockers.

A junior high basketball court will be installed along the front side of the school, outside what will be the junior high student entrance. That section of the parking lot will be turned into a parent and bus drop-off area.

A covered walkway will also lead junior high students from their wing to the library.

The 7.5 acres behind and below the high school will be revamped for football practices, Little League games, biology classes along Cunningham Creek and more. The bridge along Central Avenue will be replaced and trees and bushes will be planted along the creek.