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At its Wednesday meeting, the Chambers County School Board discussed the consolidated high school, for which Superintendent Dr. Sharon Weldon said that construction could be underway by early 2026 and opening by the 2028-29 school year.

The project was put on hold last year when the former superintendent, Dr. Casey Chambley, lost the Republican nomination. The board ended the contract with the project managers of the construction to avoid paying for services during the interim. 

Since Weldon took office, she and the board reinstated the project managers: HPM, the construction company, and Cooper Carry, the architect. They also voted to retain Joe Jolly and Co., a brokerage firm in Birmingham. Jolly has many years of experience working with local boards of education. 

Weldon told the VT-N after the meeting that if the bids go out this coming fall, the construction could begin as early as 2026, according to the project managers.
Weldon met with the project managers about the building. During a work session on Friday, Weldon said that they discussed options for moving forward with the project, each with varying price points. 

The first option was the original build chosen by Chambley and the board. The project would cost between $100-105 million not including soft services like architectural fees, surveys, etc. 

The other option, which is the build that the board plans to use, will be a scaled-down version of the original project. The student capacity will be reduced from 1,000 to 900. The build will be very similar to the original design with some cuts to reduce the square footage, such as putting a stage in the cafeteria. 

Even with the changes, Weldon said the school will still hold all the county’s students and leave some room for additional growth. 

Weldon said the project should not exceed $90 million. 

During Wednesday’s school board meeting, Weldon asked the school board to approve a reimbursement resolution. The resolution would approve the reimbursement of any pre-construction costs that the board has paid from the general fund. 

After the school’s bonds are sold, they will be able to reimburse the general fund for costs like retaining the architecture firm, conducting land surveys and other fees.

At the work session, Weldon said the cost of the build would be $500 per square foot. Board member Jay Siggers said that in meetings from a couple of years ago, the number had been lower, closer to $350 per square foot.

The project managers also brought up renovating the Valley High School campus to house the new Chambers County High School; however, when Weldon relayed the idea, Board President Vicki Leak explained that the judge, the Legal Defense Fund of NAACP and the Department of Justice all rejected the plan. 

Leak pointed out that the city of Valley has already put a lot of money into preparing the Valley site for the high school. 

Weldon maintained during her campaign last year that her focus was on career tech and on supporting academics. Her goal has been to bring career tech classes to the main school campus.

“A very, very big draw for our students right now has been our career tech and having our career tech classes on the same campus,” Weldon said. “… We miss out on an hour of instruction every single day because our kids are traveling.”

Since the state COVID Relief Funds ran out last year, the school board has reverted back to its usual budget. Weldon said that they will have to work within their budget.

The newest board member, Reco Newton, brought up the importance of supporting extracurricular activities like sports within the facility. Weldon agreed but said that the board would have to keep their budget in mind.

“We can’t build it too small. We have to support all those, all of these things,” Weldon said. “But I’m going to also [say], I mean, the money is what money is, and what we put in phase one [the construction phase] is really what we’re talking about now.”