The Bryan County Board of Education is moving forward with plans for new elementary schools in the north and south ends of the county.
During its regular meeting Thursday at Lanier Primary School, the BoE  unanimously approved an agreement with civil engineers Thomas and Hutton for surveying, drainage plans, wetlands determination and more regarding the two new school sites.
“We’re building two new schools and the architect uses Thomas and Hutton as their civil engineer,” Board Chairman Eddie Warren said Friday morning. “What we did was (we) went outside of that contract (with the architect) and contracted with Thomas and Hutton ourselves, which in turn saves the school board money.”
Warren said there is a separate contract with Thomas and Hutton for each school, but the total for the two is around $350,000. He added the contract with Thomas and Hutton is a “not to exceed” contract, meaning if the projects cost less than expected, the board will save money.
Additionally, Warren said Thomas and Hutton will provide landscape design services free of charge as part of the agreement. That alone would have cost more than $20,000 for both sites, he said.

Read more in the March 30 edition of the News.