MATTHEW BURNETTE, Staff Writer

Some big changes may be coming for two of Coffee County’s elementary schools.

School Board members were given a presentation from Wold Architects and Engineers Partner Vaughn Dierks about potential building upgrades to Hickerson and East Coffee Elementary.

Upgrades for both schools would involve adding onto the existing school buildings, rearranging the parking lots to add more spaces, adding designated areas for bus pick-up and drop-off and renovating existing unused rooms for more beneficial purposes.

Additions and improvements recommended by Wold would cost an estimated $17, 815,000 for East Coffee and $18,020,000 for Hickerson.

The Board also inquired about what a total replacement for each school would look like if they decided to go with that option.

“I never am really a proponent of building on to buildings that are ancient,” remarked Board Member Freda K. Jones. “I know that the present building (at Hickerson) has been renovated, but it’s still just an old building.”

A new building at Hickerson would cost anywhere from $35-$40 million, according to Dierks. No figure was given for East Coffee.

Dierks explained that they can start on a new building within 10 feet of the existing structure to keep the schools functional while construction happens and then demolish the old buildings once all the furniture and equipment is moved from the old school to the new school.

“It seems really silly to me to not plan for the future while we have you already here,” commented Board Member Jennifer Peacock Hodge. “Why make schools that don’t have extra classrooms when our county is growing so quickly?”

The Board decided to schedule a work session specifically for discussing options for the two schools and concerns that were brought up during the meeting pertaining to construction such as county population growth and septic issues.

The team from Wold offered to be present at that meeting to answer further questions. No date was scheduled for the work session.