TITLE
Title
GUILFORD COUNTY SCHOOLS (GCS) CAPITAL PROJECT AMENDMENT: ERWIN MONTESSORI SCHOOL
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SPONSOR
Sponsor
Dr. Whitney Oakley, GCS Superintendent (Dr. Julius Monk)
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BACKGROUND
Background
Guilford County voters approved $2.0 billion in school bond referendums to address school capital needs identified through a comprehensive facilities master plan jointly developed by the Guilford County Board of Education and Guilford County Board of Commissioners. The County continues to evaluate funding requests with Guilford County Schools through the Joint Capital & Facilities Committee, which meets quarterly to guide the completion of the school bond program.
When establishing a project ordinance, the Board of Commissioners takes multiple steps to monitor projects. For Erwin Montessori, an initial project ordinance was established for design and pre-construction for $8,372,058 on April 15, 2021. A project ordinance amendment was approved on June 18, 2025 for $3,183,556 for early release work including sitework, utility infrastructure, and pre-purchase of long lead materials. On July 28, 2026 the Board of Education approved a guaranteed maximum price contract for construction totaling $36,867,302. This information was reviewed by the Joint Capital & Facilities Committee on July 29, 2026.
The total project ordinance will total $51,031,620. The final project cost ended up being $3.3 million higher than initial programmed amounts based on higher site preparation and onsite expenses. The additional funding will come from savings from Claxton Elementary ($1,186,695) and Peeler-Hampton Elementary ($2,100,960), which were already completed.
The school is a magnet school that will serve an estimated 350 students in a 71,361 square foot facility.
Erwin School Site
Magnet or Standard School Magnet
Original School Count (of students served) 275
Rebuild School Count (of students served) 350
GCS Student Count (average for elementary) 448
Compara...
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