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Anson County board hears updated timeline, traffic and funding questions for new middle school
Summary
Board members were told construction may finish this winter but inspections and punch-list work could push occupancy into summer 2026; district staff outlined a buses-only access road, funding flow through DPI and remaining questions about furniture, athletic facilities and a safe rifle range for JROTC.
Chairman Truman told the Anson County Board of Education that the new Anson Middle School’s construction is targeted for completion in November, but cautioned that inspections, punch lists and systems work mean occupancy could occur later, likely in summer 2026. “The short answer for the completion date is November of this year,” Chairman Truman said, adding that the state’s inspection process and subsequent contractor punch-list work can take “up to 2 to 3 months.”
Truman said the district cannot begin final IT installations or move furniture until it has possession of the building; the property remains under the general contractor’s control during final construction. A board member who has spoken with the construction team and with the contractors Leitner and Pinnacle said a realistic target may be December, with substantial work required over the holidays to try to meet a January occupancy.
On student movement and configuration, the board was told the new middle school design does not include a sixth-grade wing. “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 have sixth graders,” Truman said. Any return of sixth graders to the middle school would require a future board vote.
To address arrival and dismissal congestion, Truman described a buses-only access road on school property linking the middle- and high-school loading and parking areas; district staff hope to fund that access road with Golden Leaf funds. Truman asked that the district work with the North Carolina Department of Transportation to study a possible roundabout or a left-turn lane to ease buses’ and car riders’ movements near Highway 74.
On money for construction and outfitting, Truman explained that the project corpus (about $41 million) is held at the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (DPI) and that the county disburses funds to contractors after DPI transfers funds at each accepted stage of completion. He said allowances are built into the contract for unforeseen conditions; unused allowances would revert to the school system and are currently planned to be used for furniture, but the exact amounts will be known only near project end.
Athletic facilities, signage, restroom access for spectators and emergency egress roads also remain unresolved. The district will temporarily retain current middle-school fields until new fields are playable; final field grading is covered in the Leitner/Pinnacle contract, but installation of turf, fencing and lighting will be the school system’s responsibility. Truman and Superintendent Dr. Ratliff said they will prepare an itemized request for additional funding to present to county commissioners and the state.
