Groundbreaking on the new Anson Middle School began in May 2024. The district hopes to obtain occupancy of the new school by summer of 2026.
Lauren Monica | Anson Record
ANSON COUNTY — Sparked by questions, school board member Kelly Sheppard introduced to Board Chairman George Truman and Superintendent of Anson County Schools Brian Ratliff regarding the new middle school. An update on the school’s status was provided during February’s Anson County Board of Education meeting.
Right out of the gate, board members cautioned construction realistically will not be completed until sometime in November or December.
“A more reasonable date for when occupancy could occur would be summer of 2026, or a later date depending on what the school system might need to do that we cannot do until we take possession of the property,” explained Truman.
Currently, the general contractor has possession of the new middle school, and while school faculty may enter the building, they can not do any work, such as setting up needed IT operations, until the Anson County School District officially takes possession of the property.
Sheppard asked where sixth graders would be educated when the new middle school is operational.
Truman said “When the board moved the sixth graders back to the elementary school, it was due in large part to the fact that the new middle school will not house sixth graders, and that is still the case. The board would have to vote to move the students back to the middle school and there is not much sentiment on this board at this time to do so.”
In addition to sixth grade education, another frequent question asked of board members relates to school traffic.
“The number of buses entering and exiting our schools will be the same as now, but much more condensed due to the proximity of the two schools,” said Truman, announcing the board already has a plan to deal with issues stemming from the traffic flow patterns of the new middle school and the high school.
“We intend to address that by building a bus-only access road between the parking and loading area of the new middle school to the parking and loading area of the high school.”
Pointing out that the access road will be totally owned by the school district, Truman explained buses will enter and exit through the combined entrance of the new Anson Middle School and the current high school. They will drop off students before continuing on the access road to the high school where they will drop off students and park. In the afternoon, the same process would occur in reverse.
“This plan will greatly relieve the congestion on Anson High School Road. The funding for this access road is in hand. We hope to use Golden Leaf money,” said Truman, adding he is requesting the DOT consider a round-about near the residences located there and the National Guard Armory. Truman would also like to see a left turn lane added to turn into the middle school.
“That way, all traffic can come out of Anson Middle School and make a right turn, and we would not be crossing lanes of traffic, go down to a round-about, turn around, and then the one’s going down Highway 74 will complete the round-about.”
Another concern of Sheppard’s related to car riders, as she points out the construction of a new truck stop in the area of the new middle school may place additional burdens on an already potentially stressed traffic pattern.
Truman answered, “Car riders will bear to the right and go to the front of the school. The buses will have a separate road to the left that will go around the school and come in on the backside. There will only be a short area where both car riders and buses are together on that road. That road will be wide enough we can park buses and park cars on that road and still have egress and ingress.”
When it comes to the financial side of things, Truman assured the board the money is there to complete the project.
“All the items that were in the original contract we have enough money to pay for,” he said.
As some questions have been raised regarding the district’s ability to pay for the furniture needed for the new middle school, Truman addressed those concerns as well.
“Built into the contract are allowances that are there to protect the contractor from unforeseen issues such as bad soil, huge increases in cost of materials and a variety of other things. We have not needed to utilize any of those allowances today, so those funds will revert to the school system. Should they not be required for the completion of the project, we currently plan to use those funds for furniture. How much the allowances will be, we don’t know and we won’t know until we get close to the end of the project. Dr Ratliff and I are planning to attend the commissioner’s meeting March 18 to discuss projected issues with the new middle school at this meeting,” said Truman.
