Raking the weeds pulled from the outer fencing of Selma High School, bus driver Henry Jones is using his summer time to improve the appearances of the Selma City Schools.

“It’s a lot of work that we have had to put into it to get it looking right,” Jones said.

“I think it’s just been an oversight because we have been short on help. So, we are trying to get it back up to par.”

Jones and a team of more than 10 Selma City bus drivers and maintenance workers will clean the grounds of all Selma City Schools by the beginning of school on Aug. 9.

“When school opens you should be able to come into a different look,” said Louis Green, transportation supervisor for Selma City Schools. “We are trying to get the building back to looking like a school building should look. Dr. [Donald] Jefferson knows what the school system “should look like and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

This initiative is the first order of business for Donald Jefferson, interim superintendent.

Physical state of the grounds is the “most noticeable aspect of the schools, so this project should revive campuses in a short period of time, Jefferson said.

“Not only are we going to clean up the schools outside, we are going to clean them up inside too,” Jefferson said.

Workers will spend four days a week for 10 hours a day cutting grass, pulling weeds, cutting tree branches and trimming shrubbery.

The crew should complete the grounds of Selma High School today and will begin at Cedar Park Elementary on Wednesday.

Prior to working at Selma High School, the crew cleaned the campuses of the old central office on Washington Street and the School of Discovery.

John Major, 14, already notices the changes to Selma High School.

“It makes it look more interesting and makes people want to come to the school,” John said.

He is even more excited now to begin his freshman year at Selma High.