Meeting for a second time over Zoom, the Chatham County Board of Education continued its normal business Monday night during a lengthy session.
Among the items completed was approval of the schematic package for Chatham County Schools’ new administrative hub, the Central Services building. Slated to be built on Renaissance Drive five miles west of Pittsboro off of U.S. Hwy. 64, the one-story, 38,000-square-foot facility will replace the current building on West Street.
The complex will have two entry points off of Renaissance Drive and 125 parking spaces on the 12.2-acre plot of land. Ken Redfoot, president of Chapel Hill-based CRA Associates, presented the plan to the school board on Monday.
“A solid plan that is very efficient, very effective,” Redfoot said of the plan. “It works very carefully to put the adjacencies in the right place.”
Redfoot noted that the new school board room, human resources offices and large meeting spaces were all near the front entryway as part of making the building symbolically accessible to the public. The facility will also house district staff in the finance, child nutrition, technology, operations and academic and instruction departments.
In the approved fiscal year 2021-2027 Capital Improvements Program document developed by the Chatham County government, which is funding the project, the building is projected to cost $11,142,055 to construct. The document states that the current building has “exceeded its capacity resulting in the creation of inefficient satellite offices around the county,” and “has surpassed its intended lifespan and is in need of costly repairs.” The original recommended solution was to construct a two-story building, but the plans were changed to have just one story.
The board approved the plans unanimously. Superintendent Dr. Derrick Jordan called the new building “definitely...overdue.”
The board also discussed changes to K-11 grading and education procedures in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and school building closures as well as potential attendance zone scenarios for Seaforth High School. No board action was taken on either item.
Reporter Zachary Horner can be reached at zhorner@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @ZachHornerCNR.