Alamance-Burlington school system officials confirmed for The Alamance News this week that construction of the county’s seventh high school, Southeast High School, is on target to receive a final certificate of occupancy by July 31.
Southeast High School is under construction at 3368 South N.C. Highway 119, near the Honda Power Equipment plant in Swepsonville. The $67 million new high school is being funded by the $150 million bond package that voters approved for ABSS in November 2018.
Southeast High School received a “stocking permit” from the county’s planning and inspections department last Tuesday, May 23, according to Greg Hook, chief operations officer for ABSS.
Receipt of the stocking permit means that staff can begin moving furniture and other supplies into the new high school, ABSS public information officer Les Atkins elaborated in an interview this week. The initial permit also indicates that the contractor has met the deadline of late May 2023 for substantial completion of the project.
However, teachers will be able to set up their classrooms now but can’t actually begin using the building until ABSS receives the certificate of occupancy, the PIO explained Tuesday afternoon.
The new high school is being built by the Greensboro-based Samet Corporation, which is also serving as the construction-manager-at-risk (or CM-at-risk), which is a construction delivery method statutorily requiring the contractor to finish on time and within a guaranteed maximum price.
Samet senior vice president Ken Grube told The Alamance News earlier this year that the company would be required to pay ABSS $2,000 per day in fines if construction of the new high school isn’t completed on time.
Southeast High School is scheduled to open for the 2023-24 school year. The first day of school is August 28.
