Hall County School District officials have spent the last five years assessing the school buildings and other system facilities and now they have unveiled a 10-year facility plan that comes with a $258 million price tag.
Members of the school board unanimously approved the plan at a meeting Monday night.
District Superintendent Will Schofield said the plan cannot be financed, however, without the passage of ESPLOST VI and a bond referendum.
"In March 2020, we will come before this incredible community and we will ask them to do two things," Schofield said following the meeting. "One referendum will be the extension of the current one-penny sales tax, which would pay a portion of this plan, and the second will be to allow us the referendum to sell $250 million of government obligation bonds."
Among the projects on the list is the construction of a new middle school for the south end of the county, probably for the Cherokee Bluff district. Right now, Cherokee Bluff High School and Cherokee Bluff Middle School occupy one building on Spouts Springs Road.
Schofield said the greatest need for new buildings is for elementary school students. The average age of the elementary schools in the county is 41.15 years; four campuses range in age from 62 to 65 years in age.
"We do a great job in our maintenance department of keeping them up, of making them work, but the board and I believe that it's time for a significant portion of our elementary students to get to go to school in some new and some modern space," Schofield said.
The 10-year plan calls for seven elementary schools - McEver, Myers, Oakwood, Riverbend, Tadmore, White Sulphur and World Language Academy (WLA) Primary - to be replaced with five new schools. Schofield did not say which schools might be consolidated under the plan, but he indicated the goal is to create elementary schools that educate an estimated 1,000 students. Some elementary schools currently have student populations in the 400 range.
Also on the list of planned projects - new performing arts centers for Johnson High School and West Hall High Schools. Bathroom facilities at the East Hall and North Hall clusters also would get upgrades under the plan. Also, all middle school gymnasiums would be air conditioned under the plan.
Follow this link to see the full list of proposed projects for the Hall County School District's 10-year facility plan.
Listen to a WDUN interview with Will Schofield by clicking on the audio player to the left.
