Parents and students arriving at Clarkesville Elementary for open house this week will see a lot of construction equipment and dirt behind the school. Work continues on an $11.1 million dollar expansion project at the school. When completed, the school will have ten new classrooms and an enlarged cafeteria and parking lot.
The expansion will accommodate future growth. The Habersham County School System is paying for it with Series 2022 bonds voters approved in the ESPLOST referendum.
Student safety
Habersham County Assistant School Superintendent Patrick Franklin wants to assure parents that even with the onsite construction, students will be safe.
“With the kids being here, we have put together a superb safety plan,” he tells Now Habersham.
Franklin says all of the construction workers have had background checks. They should have very little, if any, interaction with students.
The contractor fenced off the construction site to prevent students from wandering into the area. If a child wanders into the construction zone, the policy requires all work to stop until that student is returned to the school.
The construction entrance is on the back side of the school property on Beaver Dam Road. Franklin says it will not interfere with parent and school bus pick up or drop off.
Construction schedule
The first phase of the project began at the end of last school year. Phase 1 started with crews repairing brickwork on the existing building. They also moved underground infrastructure in preparation for building the new wing.
Crews will complete this first phase of the project within the next two weeks, according to Franklin.
Phase 2 of the Clarkesville Elementary School (CES) construction project has already begun. Crews have completed the site work and are preparing to lay the foundation for the new classroom wing.
The new wing should be completed by next spring, just as school is letting out for summer break. It’s due to open to students in the fall of 2024 and will accommodate between 160 and 200 students.
Phase 3 of the CES project will begin right after the last day of school next May. During this final phase, contractors will address the driveway coming off of SR 115 to accommodate additional traffic as the school grows. They will add additional parking to the parking lot and begin renovating the school’s cafeteria.
Contractors will expand the lunchroom by renovating two existing classrooms into cafeteria space.
CES Principal Georgia Pitts says the changes seem to “have put a spark in everyone.”
“It has brought about some new excitement with our current staff. They have all updated and refreshed their classrooms,” she tells Now Habersham. “We think it is going to be great for our community.”
The entire construction project has a guaranteed maximum cost of $11,195,627 and includes a 10% contingency.
