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The Troup County Board of Education has approved the purchase of a truck driving simulator for THINC College and Career Academy to offer more pathways to employment for students.

The purchase was approved unanimously as part of the consent agenda on Thursday as recommended by Superintendent Brian Shumate. The truck driving simulator was purchased from Advanced Training Systems, LLC for $73,327.42.

The purchase also included the full library of training modules for the simulator.

Shumate said the purchase was part of the school’s efforts to increase instructional offerings at THINC.

The school system is trying to expand its logistics pathway at THINC Academy to include truck driving by partnering with West Georgia Tech.

“It’s called next-gen trucking curriculum. It’s a pretty cool thing that these kids are going to be able to learn the basics of driving a truck while in high school and get behind the wheel of a truck once they turn 18,” Shumate said.

“As you know, trucking is booming and they’re in great need of drivers. You can make a pretty good living doing it, so we’re glad to do that,” he said.

The school board also approved renovations for four elementary schools using remaining Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) and ESPLOST funds.

The elementary school improvements approved include flooring & lighting renovations at Berta Weathersbee Elementary for $1,639,902.68 and flooring renovations at Franklin Forest Elementary for $619,890.12 using ESSER funds.

Flooring renovations at West Point Elementary for $705,514.80 and flooring renovations at Hogansville Elementary for $430,098.18 were also approved using ESPLOST funds.

The board also approved the purchase of 1,100 teacher laptops from SureLock Technology for $1,301,300, along with 5,561 Chromebooks for $2,446,840 for student use. Both sets of computers will be paid for using ESSER III funds.