Construction of the North Springs High School is a month behind schedule due to bid delays and rising construction costs, according to officials with Fulton County Schools.
Fulton County Board of Education members Dr. Michelle Morancie and Katha Stuart held a joint community meeting on Jan. 17 at Holcomb Bridge Middle School with school district administrators giving a presentation on the high school and answering questions.
“It is absolutely being built. So all the rumors out there that it is not going to happen, they’re simply not true,” Superintendent Mike Looney said.
A formal invitation for bids for the site work will be made the week of Jan. 21 with a 30-day deadline for those bids, FCS Chief Operations Officer Noel Maloof told parents. Evaluating the bids will take approximately 60 days, after which Looney will present staff recommendations to the school board. The 90-day bid process will be followed by the school board’s approval of the most qualified bid.
Looney said the school construction project is a month behind schedule, but is estimated to last 24 to 36 months.
Members of the high school’s construction advisory committee said they were told last Ocotber that the project was on schedule, saying the community meeting was the first time they were told about bid delays. They also said they were surprised to hear about a Middle College program planned for when the new high school building opens, as they had previously been told transportation issues for classes held at a technical college were a problem.
A Middle College is an alternative path to high school graduation where students complete high school with a diploma and two technical college certificates, according to the FCS website. Students take just nine academic courses required for graduation and complete their remaining coursework in training for a high-wage, high-skill, in-demand career field.
Looney and Maloof admitted they needed to solve communication problems. The superintendent even promised to have big signs installed saying construction of a new North Springs High School is happening to reassure parents.
But Looney also said too many variables are making an exact finishing date impossible to set.
Maloof said an unexpected variable was a 40 percent hike in construction costs. He said the school district budgeted for a 3 to 5 percent increase.
“We are watching commercial properties stop. We are watching buildings stop. We are watching all kinds of things stop because of this escalation,” he said.
Even before the drastic increase in construction costs, estimates on the high school construction were much higher than the $108 million allocated for the school’s construction. The school board will need to reprioritize what projects will proceed with the education sales tax funds that are collected so the new North Springs High School can be constructed.
The supply chain also causes problems. The school district has been trying to replace some HVAC units in some schools. It took almost a year to get them when the normal delivery time was three months, Maloof said.
Georgia law prohibit the school district from buying construction supplies to stockpile before a facility design has been created and approved, he told community members who suggested that tactic.
