On Friday May 28, 2021, Alamance-Burlington School System celebrated the beginning of construction for the New High School by breaking ground. ABSS leaders, community leaders, and elected officials gathered at the groundbreaking ceremony on the 100-acre property. The new high school is a major construction project that is scheduled to be opened for the 2023-2024 school year.

• Board of Education presentation 10-13-2020
• Engineers and designers have met with stakeholders to prepare the attached final design for review
• Update 10-13-2020 New High School Bond Project Final Dsign Review

• Land purchase completed and recorded on June 29, 2020 ($2,246,514)
• Project in Design Development (DD) Phase
• Input was received from students, staff, community, athletic directors, central office staff, Board of Education, Child Nutrition as well as designers and CMR
  • Focus points included classroom design, parking, students services areas, administration offices. Career and Technical Education Programs, athletic needs, data layout, security, kitchen design, and kitchen equipment
• September 2020: DD Phase Final, cost estimates from CMR, and Value Engineering needed
• October presentation to the Board of Education
• Swepsonsville Fire Department has submitted application to burn the houses on the property as a training exercise

Edited: ABSS met with Samet Corporation and Moseley Architects to discuss moving timelines in order to provide a time buffer to give ABSS adequate time to prepare for placement of students.

Additionally, the land purchase for the school is ongoing, and completion of this investigation will end Phase 1 and begin Phase II of the process. At that point, certified survey results will be in hand and the proposal will go to the ABSS School Board.

Moseley Architects presented the ABSS Board of Education a Schematic Design Report for the New High School on March 4, 2020. Moseley will incorporate any feedback or comments within the next drawing phase for future review and approvals.

Moseley Architects Schematic Design Report
New High School Floor Plans

The New High School that will be built on NC 119 near Swepsonville is currently in Phase 1 with anticipated completion within the next few weeks. Phase 1 includes preliminary geotechnical evaluation, and wetland delineation report for the property. Moseley Architects will share the schematic design phase for the  new high school design along with Southern High School's updated design that will be presented to the School Board of Education at the March meeting.

At the February 3, 2020 Board of Commissioners' Meeting, the Board approved the purchase price ($2,142,500) for the New High School that will be built on NC 119 near Swepsonville.

The New High School is in the design phase with drawings planned for release within the next few weeks. The Construction Manager at Risk contracts (New High School and Southern High) are anticipated to be approved by the ABSS Board of Education at a special meeting this Friday, January 31. If approved, Samet representatives will be available at the February 3 Board of Commissioners’ meeting to provide background, context, and answer any questions the commissioners may have. They will also be included on the agenda for the upcoming Oversight Committee Meeting scheduled for February 27.

The purchase price for the land for the new high school has been approved by the ABSS Board of Education in closed session, but the cost will not be released until the February 3 Board of Commissioners’ Meeting. At this meeting, Todd will present the Board with the outside recommendations for purchase of the land, the purchase price, as well as the land appraisals. The Board will then be asked to vote to approve the purchase price.

ABSS will also be ready to present the Oversight Committee with any updates for bond projects, and will specifically share visuals of the New High School, Southern, and South Mebane projects.

ABSS has conducted multiple stakeholder meetings to receive input on the design of the school. These include:

1. Meeting with Administrative staff to detail the programming needs (see programming below)
2. Interactive sessions with elected officials, Vision Group, education Council, ABSS district leaders
3. Community meeting at Williams High auditorium
4. High school students at CTEC campus

Currently, Moseley Architects are in the schematic design phase, and ABSS has contracts for Phase 1 study, including preliminary geotechnical evaluation and wetland delineation report for the property. ABSS is just waiting on execution of the offer to purchase contract. The contract for the CMR is in the final stages of negotiations with expectations of having it ready for Board of Education approval at the January meeting.

ABSS met with the land owner for possible purchase with the terms agreeable to the Board of Education as of December 2. Phase one will include a contract which will be presented at the January work session, and then a land study that will be conducted within 90-120 days. At this time, ABSS is on target for a May 2020 bond issuance.

New High School Community Presentation/Design Workshop 10-28-19

ABSS will be holding information and input sessions with Moseley Architects on Monday, October 28 regarding the new high school project approved by Alamance County voters in November 2018. ABSS and Moseley Architects will be presenting the initial concepts for the new high school and will be encouraging participation of community stakeholders at these forums.

The open community information and input session will take place on Monday, November 4 at 6pm at Williams High Auditorium (1307 South Church Street, Burlington). Recommendations from community stakeholders will be incorporated into this presentation.

The ABSS School Board agreed to make Samet Corporation the construction manager-at-risk for both the new high school and the renovations at Southern High School. Contract negotiations are in progress with Samet as the Construction Manager-at-Risk for Southern High School renovations as well as the New High School.

The process for hiring a builder depends on the building method used. The Construction Manager-at-Risk model is an authorized contracting method. The Construction Manager-at-Risk is required to deliver the project at a guaranteed maximum price based on the architectural designs.

To complete design services for the new high school project, the Moseley Architect Firm has been hired. Curriculum plans are underway, preliminary conceptual designs will be prepared for review at public stakeholder meetings that will soon be scheduled before the finalization of conceptual drawings. The ABSS Board of Education has approved Samet Corporation as the construction firm using the Construction Manager at Risk model, and contract negotiations are underway. The Board of Education has also approved negotiations for evaluation of land purchase at site #7 which includes 100 acres, 96% of which is suitable for development. With the current plan, the buildings and athletic facilities will likely take up most of that space.

An initial site suitability evaluation for the potential property for the new high school has been conducted. ABSS is also currently holding initial meetings with maintenance and the curriculum team in anticipation of the new high school.

The Board of Education voted to choose “Construction Manager at Risk” (CMAR) as the construction method for the New High School and Southern High School. An RFP for CMAR services was issued by ABSS on July 25th and responses are due back by noon August 12th. An ABSS Committee will conduct CMAR interviews beginning September 11. No decisions have been made regarding construction manager options for ABSS’ other bond projects.

The ABSS architect/designer selection process began last November when ABSS posted the RFQ (Request for Quotes) and scheduled school visits for early December. By the January 7, 2019 deadline, ABSS received 24 architect/designers submissions for renovation projects and 13 submissions for the new high school. The selection process also included two rounds of interviews with an internal committee and a stakeholder committee.

At the June 18, 2019 ABSS Board of Education Meeting, the Board approved the staff recommendation that Mosley Architects from Raleigh provide the following services for the new high school: design narrative, schematic design, design development, construction documents, bidding and negotiations, and construction administration with a design cost estimated at $3,100,631.

Alamance-Burlington School System staff have reviewed architects for bond projects and will provide the School Board of Education with recommendations to be approved in early June.

At the May 14, 2019 meeting, the Board of Education was presented with construction delivery methods. The Board voted to use the Construction Manager-at-Risk (CMAR) delivery method for the New High School. (Please see FAQ page for CMAR information). No RFP has been released at this time to hire a construction manager.