Gwinnett County Public Schools is planning several new construction projects in the upcoming fiscal year, including a new middle school and two high school expansions, to address overcrowding in some parts of the district.
The projects are part of E-SPLOST VI, a penny sales tax for education projects approved in 2020. They are listed in the proposed budget for the fiscal year that starts in July, and the school board is scheduled to have its initial vote on the budget Thursday. At that meeting, the board is also expected to vote on approving contracts for some of those projects.
The big-ticket item is building a new middle school in the Archer cluster that’s expected to cost $41.4 million. Carroll Daniel Construction company submitted the low bid for the project, and the board will consider accepting it.
McConnell Middle School is the only middle school in that cluster and has an enrollment of more than 2,000 students. The new building’s capacity will be 1,100 and is slated to open in August 2026. The new school has not yet been named, but it will be located on the eastern side of the cluster at 2945 Indian Shoals Road in Dacula.
Work on the site and traffic construction were previously approved by the county and are underway.
Two high schools with enrollments exceeding their building capacities will be expanded.
Central Gwinnett High School will continue with the build-out of the building’s fourth floor to bring the school’s capacity to 2,700, an increase of 350 students. The bid pending board approval estimated the project will cost $2.6 million. Archer High School is slated for renovations that will add 25 classrooms and increase capacity from 2,850 to 3,325 students. The board approved a company’s bid in January to build the project for $15.7 million.
Credit: Natrice Miller / Natrice.Miller@ajc.com
Credit: Natrice Miller / Natrice.Miller@ajc.com
Both of those projects would be completed by August 2025, officials say.
Gwinnett, the state’s largest school district, continues to grow. Its enrollment last fall was about 182,000 students, up nearly 3,000 students since the fall 2021 semester.
Other E-SPLOST VI projects slated for the next fiscal year include classroom renovations at other schools, HVAC replacements, school bus purchases and technology upgrades.
The board will have its second work session on the budget Thursday. At the initial work session in March, most of the discussion focused on whether or not the district should audit its equity practices.
During Thursday’s work session, the board is scheduled to vote on adopting the budget, but the second and final adoption vote will be June 20. There will be public hearings May 16 and June 20, during which Gwinnett residents can weigh in on the budget.
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