The Bryan County Board of Education is asking voters to decide whether to renew a penny sales tax for education and allow it to issue up to $200 million in general obligation bonds to help fund a number of projects, including a new middle school in South Bryan and a new Bryan County High School.
Both items will be a single question on the ballot May 19.
Bryan County Schools Superintendent Dr. Paul Brooksher said the measures, if approved, will allow the fast-growing system to keep up with steadily climbing enrollment. Since 2010, the school system has grown from 7,299 students to an enrollment of 10,700 in the fall of 2025.
“Bryan County is one of the fastest-growing communities in Georgia, and some of our schools are feeling the strain of overcrowding and aging facilities,” Brooksher said. “Renewing the current one-penny sales tax allows us to invest in new schools and facility improvements without raising property taxes. The bond authorization simply gives us the flexibility to build schools as they’re needed — much like financing a home — except this ‘home’ will serve thousands of students for generations to come.”
In addition to a new middle school in South Bryan and a new BCHS near the site of the current school, the bonds would fund additions to McAllister Elementary and Bryan County Elementary, both of which opened in 2015, as well as transportation centers on both ends of the county.
More recently, Frances Meeks Elementary opened in 2020 and the new Richmond Hill High School in 2025.
A list of planned construction projects through 2035 on the Bryan County Schools website shows a new wing at McAllister Elementary is expected to cost $5 million and open in 2027, along with a $3 million early learning center.
The new middle school in South Bryan County is currently expected to cost $73 million and open in 2028, and a new Bryan County High School is projected to cost $97 million and open in 2029.
The new wing at Bryan County Elementary School is set to open in 2030 and cost $4 million, and Meanwhile, the sales tax voters will be asked to approve in May is expected to raise “not more than” $120 million, with some of the revenue going to pay a portion of the principal and interest on the bonds as well as buying school buses, vehicles and textbooks.
“We encourage the 20,000 parents we currently serve, future families, and the entire Bryan County community to go to the polls on May 19th and make their voices heard,” Brooksher said.
The deadline to register to vote in the May 19 primaries is April 20.