Burke Schools lay groundwork for new elementary construction

Burke County Schools has tentatively scheduled two public meetings for Icard and Hildebran residents to discuss plans for a new elementary school in eastern Burke County. Superintendent Dr. Mike Swan told the Board of Education the sessions will be held Sept. 23 and 25, pending final details.

Swan said he’s waiting for traffic pattern data from the state Department of Transportation before finalizing the meeting dates.

Swan, other school administrators, and Board of Education members have toured several schools, including Pineville Elementary in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg district, and Flint Hill Elementary in Fort Mill, S.C. During the visits, Burke officials noted features they want to see (or don’t want to see) in the district’s newest facility.

According to BCPS Public Relations Officer Cheryl Shuffler, district officials chose those schools because of their two-story designs. “We wanted to get a feel for that as the site we have best fits a two-story,” she stated.

The new plans will likely be similar to the design of Mountain View Elementary, but will have two-story wings. Both of the schools Burke officials visited, as well as Mountain View, were designed by architect Hamilton Cort of McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture.

The public will be able to attend the information/listening sessions and provide input on the project, which is funded, in part, by a $42 million N.C. Education Lottery grant the school system received in early 2024.

During Monday’s school board meeting, the superintendent also updated the board about construction progress on the district’s new central office, which will be located in the former Burke United Christian Ministries building on West Union Street. Demolition is in progress inside the building, which is slated for completion in the summer of 2026.

“This time next year, we should be moving into our new central office,” Swan told board members.

District Finance Officer and Director of Auxiliary Services Dr. Bob Acord brought the board up to speed on the district’s latest Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) spending, including a report about progress on the athletic fields at Freedom High School, which saw the most damage when Hurricane Helene ravaged the county in September 2024.

“The concession is up and ready to go,” Acord reported. “The field house is about 85% (complete). We’ve got a certificate of occupancy.

“I would venture to say by the middle or the end of next week, we will start moving things back in,” he stated.

Acord said while school buildings and facilities have seen great improvement, “A year from now we’re still going to find things around our facilities that Helene probably damaged.”