KANKAKEE — Kankakee School District 111 will seek construction bids starting Friday to make the front entrance of Proegler School handicap accessible using money saved when students stopped riding buses at the end of last school year.

The Kankakee School Board on Monday gave the OK for administration to seek bids of up to $100,000 for the project.

Robert Grossi, assistant superintendent of business services, said the project would be fully funded using surplus transportation funds from fiscal year 2020.

He said the district saved money because students stopped using bus services for the final few months of the school year after the state’s shelter-in-place order took effect in March.

Proegler has also received over $300,000 in CARES Act funding for fiscal year 2021, and all of the school’s extra funds need to be spent or allocated within one year, according to the project proposal.

“This is something we have been talking about for two or three years, to make that building more handicap accessible,” Grossi said. “Based on the situation we are in with funding at Proegler, this is finally something that we are able to do.”

The project will include building an ADA-compliant ramp, updating the school’s main entrance and replacing its exterior doors.

The district will also seek alternate bids including installation costs for vestibule doors at the front entrance to guide people as they enter the building and enhance security.

The school at 710 N. Chicago Ave. in Kankakee serves most of the district’s pre-kindergarten students.

Grossi said the district would be looking to start the project toward the end of September.