DeKalb County Commissioners have approved a bond resolution not to exceed $55 million for a new pre-K to second grade elementary school.
Director of Schools Patrick Cripps said the new school is an exciting prospect as the district has not gotten a new building in nearly twenty-five years. Cripps said the school will be located close to Northside Elementary so buses will be able to easily connect the two facilities without using the highway.
“Right now we’ve got a couple of second grade classrooms in another building with another elementary school so getting them back with their peers will be great,” Cripps said. “And it’s going to put two schools closer together so it’s going to be easier for our traffic as far as parents getting kids to and fro from school.”
Cripps said the district already has land and a preliminary sketch of the building so the next step is to develop a project schedule with an architect. Cripps said a topographical survey will hopefully be completed by this summer but a broader timeline is unknown.
“It’s exciting to try on a different venture,” Cripps said. “I know it’s going to be worrisome and things of that nature but also you look at what you get to set up for the future.”
Cripps said the state has already conducted a traffic study on the site for the new school. Cripps said that study told school officials how to set up the property’s driveways and roadways to best support traffic while connecting it to Northside Elementary.
“It’s just a new building, I mean the building it’s replacing was built in 1958 so it’s got some age on it,” Cripps said.
Cripps said school officials have been working on plans for a new school since 2017. Cripps said he is grateful to the county’s commission, mayor, and the local municipalities for agreeing to extend the sales tax agreement funding the new school.
