Chamblee Charter High School parents will see something on April 16 they think is long overdue: the start of the $78 million project to rebuild their school.
This afternoon DeKalb County Schools announced a ground breaking ceremony for 2 p.m., April 16. The move comes just days after the DeKalb Board of Education found a way to avoid a potential $36.5 million budget shortfall by using future sales tax revenues to fund unfinished construction projects. The shortfall came to light after school officials found Chamblee Charter High was going to cost $10 million more than anticipated.
Phase 1 is expected to be completed by the winter break of the 2013-14 school year. It will consist of a new academic building. In Phase 2, contractors will build the fine arts wing, auditorium, natatorium and gymnasium, with work expected to be complete by the beginning of the 2014-15 school year.
The natatorium is part of the reason why school officials initially underestimated the cost. In 2009, the system estimated Chamblee’s cost by comparing it with the cost to rebuild of Tucker High School. School officials thought they could rebuild Chamblee for $68 million.
But the natatorium for its swimming pool was an additional expense of $3.5 million. The school also planned to pay for the project using federal bonds, but because of federal regulations had to pay “prevailing wages,” which cost an additional $1.5 million.
