It could be October before the new W.S. Neal High School is ready for occupany, Escambia County Schools superintendent John Knott said Tuesday.
“Construction crews are not on schedule,” Knott said. “We are not going to make the deadline for our fall opening.
“As of our last meeting, they are now talking about being able to move in Oct. 1,” he said.
While disappointed, Knott said the most important thing is that “a quality job is done.”
“We want to be good stewards,” Knott said. “Our last school lasted us a long time, and we want this one to last us another 50 or 60 years.”
Knott said the project has experienced constant delays, causing the the occupany to be pushed back.
“It is just been one delay after another,” he said. “When one thing causes us to get behind, it has just been a domino effect.”
However, the building is taking shape “nicely,” Knott said of work on the East Brewton campus.
“I was over there (Tuesday) and they were putting flooring down in the A and B wings,” Knott said. “They were doing case work and some lockers were going in.”
With the delay in entering the school for the start of the upcoming school year, Knott said he and WSN principal Patricia Frazier have begun work on a plan to help when August comes around.
“We are going to have to start in our current building,” Knott said. “We are outlining plans now to arrange classes and schedules. Thankfully, the only building that has been torn down has been our field house. We have disconnected power supply to the Ag building, but we will discuss in the next 30 days if we need to reconnect that.”
Knott said no portable clasrooms will have to be used during the delays.
“Thankfully we are able to use the current building,” he said. “We will get through this, and we will be proud when we will be able to get in the new building.”