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GREENSBORO - Rising kindergartners who would have attended Summerfield Elementary School in the fall will instead go to Laughlin Elementary.

The school board gave clearance Tuesday for Guilford County Schools to prepare Laughlin, which was last used by students in the fall of 2007 and sits empty.

"Obviously we've got to rock and roll if we're going to make this happen," said Sharon Ozment, the district's co-interim superintendent.

The district's intent is to house students at Laughlin during the planned 2009 renovation of Summerfield Elementary, which will receive new classrooms and a media center as part of a $457 million bond approved in May. Kindergartners and first-graders would attend Laughlin while students in the second through fifth grades would stay at Summerfield during construction.

"I think cleaning (Laughlin) is probably the biggest issue," said Leo Bobadilla, the district's chief operations officer.

Cost estimates were not given Tuesday for outfitting the school with books, computer equipment and staff.

In other business:

* The board voted to stop insuring facilities through the state Department of Public Instruction. Instead, the district will pay an additional $215,000 for better coverage through Surry Insurance Co. of Dobson and Winston-Salem. The premium for 2008-09 is $781,619.

District officials revisited the coverage after Eastern Guilford High School was destroyed by fire in 2006. Risk manager Wanda Frazier told board members that the new policy could have provided $20 million more in the Eastern settlement.

For example, the new policy will pay up to $5 million to meet current building codes in a school, compared to $1 million offered by the state.

* Board members also learned that 30 people from North Carolina and across the country have applied for the superintendent's position through national search firm Ray and Associates. The board plans to meet with the firm during the week of June 23 to narrow the list of candidates.

Contact Morgan Josey Glover at 373-7078 or morgan.josey@news-record.com