Madison County BOE approves construction bid for first new school in 10 years
HARVEST, Ala. (WHNT) — On Thursday, the Madison County Board of Education approved the construction of a new intermediate school in Harvest, the system’s first new-construction school since 2014.
“It’s an exciting time for the Madison County School System,” Madison County School Board Vice President, Heath Jones, told News 19.
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The intermediate school will be built on McKee Road in Harvest, just off of Highway 53, and will house 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students.
“We’re going to take fourth and fifth grade from Madison Crossroads Elementary and Harvest Elementary, and then also our sixth grade Sparkman Middle School students” he said.
The school board approved a $43,766,524 construction bid from Bailey Harris Construction, Inc. out of Auburn, for the new 114,000 square-foot school.
The school is set to have 45 classrooms, 4 special needs classrooms, a band room, art room and large gymnasium. The school will serve about 1,260 students.
News 19 spoke to Jones at the construction site where initial work is currently being done. He said that he expects construction to start within 60 days of initial site work wrapping up.
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Jones told News 19 that his district, District 4, has seen the largest amount of growth in the county in recent years. He said a new intermediate school in the area was needed to relieve congestion at existing schools and to plan ahead for future growth.
“We have to be proactive and understand that with that growth comes the need for new schools, and of course that’s at a cost to the taxpayer,” Jones said.
Construction for the new school is expected to wrap up in time for the start of the 2026-2027 school year. At this time, the new school does not have a name.
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