New Schools, Additions To Existing Facilities in Forsyth's 5-Year Plan

Due to increasing enrollment and expectations the trend will continue, the Forsyth County Board of Education is set to soon begin considering a 5-year plan that could result in new schools and facilities.

The system has grown to 40,668 students, hundreds more than administrators had expected for the 2013-2014 school year. By the 2017-2018 school year, officials anticipate Forsyth Schools will accommodate nearly 47,000 students, according to a presentation given as an update at one of the board's August meetings.

It's set to meet Nov. 14 to discuss the recommended 2014-2019 Facilities Plan and is expected Nov. 21 to considering approving it. If given the green light, it would go into effect Jan. 1.

Preliminary proposals in the plan call for a new elementary school, which would be the system's 21st and cost $11.3 million; a new $17.5 million middle school, which would be the system's 10th, along with state-funded additions to two existing middle schools—Riverwatch and South Forsyth; and a new high school, which would be the county's sixth and cost more than $25.5 million, along with state-funded additions to two high schools—Lamber and North Forsyth.

Additions would account for about $4 million of the aggregate cost of the projects, which is more than $60 million. More than $9.8 million in local construction dollars would be required, while the other roughly $50 million in building costs would be eligible for earning entitlement.

The system plans to ask voters in 2014 to okay a bond referendum, which would allow it to borrow money to fund the capital projects.

School officials have prioritized the proposed new schools and additions as follows:

1. New elementary school
2. New middle school
3. Additions to two high schools, Lamber and North Forsyth
4. Riverwatch Middle School Addition
5. New High School
6. South Forsyth Middle School Addition

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