HARRISON COUNTY, MS (WLOX) -
Harrison County is about to build a brand, new school. The district is designing a $10 million elementary school to help relieve overcrowded classrooms at schools in the Orange Grove-Woolmarket areas.
It's school registration time and the Harrison County School District expects to see a lot of new faces. Every year, the district gains about 300 students, leading to overflowing classrooms, especially in the elementary schools.
"Three Rivers [Elementary] is overcrowded. Woolmarket [Elementary] is getting to the point. They don't have any classrooms now. North Woolmarket is an issue," said Harrison County Schools Superintendent Henry Arledge.
Four months ago, the district bought 25 acres of land on Three Rivers Road, between the water tower and Lampkin Road. Architects are in the process of drawing the plans for a new elementary school.
"It will have about 30-36 classrooms in it, and it'll be a K-6. It's designed so we could add more classrooms in the future," said Arledge.
Those extra classrooms should ease the heavy student load in the Orange Grove and Woolmarket areas.
"Housing developments in the area, there have been numerous subdivisions," said Arledge. "People will live in this school district and work in another area, so we have to accommodate those needs."
The land costs about $500,000. The district is taking out a $10 million interest free bond to buy the property and to build the new school. The superintendent says there are several reasons why the property is such an attractive site.
"This was the cheapest piece of property that I could find that was high ground, relatively high ground, and have water and sewer in it," said Arledge.
The land clearing is expected to start in mid-September, and construction should take about 300 days. That means students could be registering for classes in the new school as early as August of 2013.
According to Arledge, the last time the school district built a new school that was not Katrina-related was 13 years ago.
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This 25 acre property on Three Rivers Rd will soon be home to a new elementary school in Harrison County. The land clearing should start in mid- September and the new school could be ready as early as August of 2013.
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