By: Shelia Mader
The school board met in a special workshop last Friday morning for an update on phase three of the Grand Ridge School project. The Board received updates from the contractor, the designer, and architects.
Jackson County school board members had approved the contract for phase three of the project in their meeting Thursday night on a motion by board member MH Jackson, with a second by board member Rex Torbett. The motion passed unanimously.
Superintendent of Schools Hunter Nolen said, “I think Culpepper and DAG, as well as the board, just want everybody on the same page. And I thought it was a real successful meeting this morning, and who knows? In the future, we might have another one just on this topic to keep the community aware of all of the great things that are going on out there.”
Nolen said a new board member requested a project update. He added that with him recently being elected himself, he thought the workshop would be beneficial to all.
“I think there were a couple of changes that were made, and the board just wanted to know kind of where they were going and what they were doing and we had a great explanation of that this morning,” Nolen added.
Culpepper Construction representatives assured board members that their confusion was a result of their transparency.
“But then you’re increasing it, maybe that’s not what’s really going on, but maybe it’s just an internal accounting and moving it between?” a board member asked.
A Culpepper Construction representative clarified what was causing the confusion, “That’s exactly what it is, it’s an internal accounting. All we’re doing is showing you how that internal accounting is occurring. That’s all that is, we’re saying, okay, you know, we’re moving dollars within the GMP to reflect the actual commitments that were occurring.”
Superintendent Nolen says they’re making on-site visits once every three weeks. “We invite one board member, a different one every time, as well as director of facilities, and our finance director. We meet with Culpepper, Kyle, and DAG and just see where we are at, where we’re headed, any hiccups.” Nolen said.
As of now the project is ahead of schedule and Nolen is hopeful for an August 2027 ribbon cutting
