For some time Pope Construction contractors have been working more or less horizontally on site preparation for the new Richmond Hill High School near the Belfast Keller interchange.
That’s about to change. By April, construction on the $97.9 million campus should start going vertical, Bryan County Schools Assistant Superintendent Jason Rogers told school board members Feb. 17 at a work session in Black Creek.
The new high school in South Bryan is just one of a number of capital projects – meaning either new construction or renovation – in the works as fast-growing Bryan County Schools tries to keep pace with the county’s ongoing residential building boom while also keeping current buildings in operating order.
In all, the latest round of renovations and additions to current schools add up to more than $15.4 million, according to Rogers. Here’s a look at some of the work on tap:
Current RHHS summer renovation: Projected to cost more than $3.5 million, this includes work on the West gym ceiling and roof repair and the campus will get fresh paint, lighting and flooring.
Work on that project is expected to begin over spring break. And rather than hire movers to empty RHHS of its desks and chairs and other equipment, Rogers said administrators will look on campus, literally.
“Where practical we will ask for teams, clubs, etc., to provide assistance in moving items out of the building in exchange for a donation to their program,” he said.
Repairs to the gym ceiling at Bryan County Middle and High School will begin over spring break. The cost is projected at more than $200,000.
In addition, approximately $4.2 million in additions to the BCMHS weight room and renovations to its athletic fields are either wrapping up, ongoing or about to begin.
The school’s JROTC Raiders course will be modified and renovations to the BCHMS track at the football stadium will begin the day after graduation, Rogers said.
The most pricey of the current renovations is at Carver Elementary, where the school is undergoing “complete interior renovations and some modification to include a new HVAC,” according to Rogers, who is in charge of the district’s maintenance and opeartions.
The cost is budgeted at more than $6.6 million. Both RHHS and Carver will have temporary administrative offices set up – RHHS in portables at the school while Carver “most likely” will set temporary offices at Richmond Hill Elementary School next door.
Bryan County’s population has grown by more than 48 percent to 44,000 over the past decade, according to the U.S. Census, with more than 14,000 new residents moving in since 2010.
Growth in the schools has mostly followed the same trend, with the system and its enrollment of slightly less than 10,000 roughly double what it was in 2001, when the system had approximately 5,000 students. That’s led to a building boom, and since 2012, Bryan County Schools has opened four new campuses – three of them within about a six mile radius in South Bryan and one in Pembroke.
Construction of the four schools combined cost about $82 million.
2012: Richmond Hill Middle School opened at an approximate cost to build of $17 million 2015: McAllister Elementary and Bryan County Elementary opened. Combined approximate cost: $40 million. Since then, both schools have seen additions and renovations.
2020: Frances Meeks Elementary opened. Approximate cost: $25 million.
As part of a vote on the penny sales tax for education, or ESPLOST, voters approved $100 million in bonds to build the new RHHS. The district also spent approximately $1.1 million in 2019 to buy 154 acres in North Bryan to build a new high school.
School officials are currently working on a 5-year strategic plan.
