School board approves $100M in construction contracts; will demolish, rebuild school
The Beaufort County school board approved two contracts Wednesday night totaling $99 million for two of the largest projects on last year’s $345 million school bond referendum.
The board awarded Kansas City-based JE Dunn Construction a $53 million contract to demolish and rebuild Robert Smalls International Academy, a pre-kindergarten through eighth grade school in Beaufort.
Columbia-based firm M.B. Kahn Construction was awarded a $46 million contract to carry out the “complete renovation” of academic and athletic facilities at Beaufort’s Battery Creek High School.
According to a Beaufort County School District press release, construction at Robert Smalls will begin in summer 2021, and the new building, located at the site of the current school, will be completed in December 2022.
“Once students and staff are relocated to the new building in January 2023, the old building will be demolished,” the release reads. “The school’s new athletic facilities will be completed by August 2023 in time for the beginning of the 2023-24 academic year.”
Rebuilding Robert Smalls was the highest-ticket item of the 2019 referendum, with a total estimated cost of $71 million to design and carry out the project.
Charleston-based LS3P Associates LTP was selected as the architect for the new building in May, and will hold a second community feedback meeting for the building’s design in November, per the district.
The renovations at Battery Creek are scheduled for completion by August 2023, and “will be done in phases so academic instruction will not have to be interrupted during construction.”
West Columbia-based Jumper Carter Sease Architects was selected to design the Battery Creek renovations, which will revamp HVAC, bathrooms and hallway lighting and add capacity for career classes.
The Robert Smalls contract was approved in an 8-2 vote, with John Dowling and William Smith voting no. The Battery Creek contract was approved in a 7-3 vote, with Dowling, Smith and JoAnn Orischak voting no. Rachel Wisnefski was absent.
What was on the school bond referendum?
The November 2019 referendum was the school district’s first successful referendum since 2008, following failed attempts to pass a bond issue in 2016 and 2018.
Once the referendum passed, the school district began the process of borrowing up to $344.6 million in 25-year bonds to begin paying for the projects, which will be spread out over the “next three to four years,” according to the district.
“We’re making outstanding progress, and we’re also on schedule and on budget,” superintendent Frank Rodriguez said in Wednesday’s press release.
The first wave of major referendum projects is wrapping up now. The school district held a ribbon-cutting ceremony last month to celebrate the completion of a new, 400-student capacity expansion at River Ridge Academy, and expects to finish a similar building expansion at May River High School in January.
In South Carolina, school bond referendums are limited to funding capital projects, such as construction and land purchases. They cannot be used to increase staff pay. Salaries and benefits make up the majority of the district’s $254 million annual budget. The district is also bound by state law to use the money from bond referendums only for what’s listed on the ballot.
A nine-member Citizen-Led Oversight Committee oversees referendum projects, and provides quarterly updates to the board. That committee meets on the first Wednesday of every month.
According to a tax calculator on the Beaufort County School District’s website, a primary South Carolina resident with a home valued at $200,000 will pay an additional $56 in taxes annually.
Whether that amount would change over the 25-year life of the bonds depends on a number of factors, including future property tax reassessments, other bonds being retired and new industry moving into the county.
A secondary homeowner with a property of the same value will pay an additional $84 annually in taxes.
The referendum appeared on the ballot in two parts. Voters needed to pass part one, a $291 million package, in order to pass part two.
Part 1 of the referendum included the following, with cost estimates:
Safety and security improvements to every school in the district: $25.7 million
Demolishing the current Robert Smalls International Academy, and constructing and equipping a replacement: $71 million
Building additions at May River High School and River Ridge Academy: $26 million
Updating technology infrastructure across the district: $55.3 million
Renovations at Beaufort Elementary School: $24.2 million
Renovations, construction and necessary demolition at Battery Creek High School and Hilton Head Island Middle School: $88.3 million
Part 1 passed with 15,700 voters, or 70 percent, voting yes, and 6,838 voting no. 22,538 votes were cast.
Part 2 was a $54 million package, which included the following (with cost estimates):
Construction and renovation for Career and Technology Education, or CATE, at Battery Creek High School and May River High School: $12 million
Designing renovations for Hilton Head Island High School: $3.8 million
Athletic improvements at Beaufort Middle School, Whale Branch Middle School, River Ridge Academy, Bluffton Middle School and H.E. McCracken Middle School: $7.6 million
Athletic improvements at all district high schools: $22 million
Playground improvements at early childhood centers, elementary schools, and preK-8 schools across the district: $8.7 million
Part 2 passed with 15,233 voters, or 68 percent, voting yes, and 7,103 voting no. 22,336 votes were cast.