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Special to the Daily Journal/Messenger

The new Pickens High School, as shown in this rendering, marks the first of four to be constructed in the county over the next three years. Daniel High School, the last of the four new high schools, is slated to open in the fall of 2012.

EASLEY — The Pickens County Board of Trustees Monday night officially approved construction of Pickens High School at $36,407,800 — the first of four new high schools under the school district’s overall $365 million facilities improvement plan initially approved three years ago.

The guaranteed maximum price, as provided by Trehel/Balfour Beatty, is reflective of the scope and design, including athletics, as required by the school district.

“We’ve kicked off the high schools, and it’s unanimous,” said Board Chairman Jim Shelton following the board’s 8-0 vote.

The vote comes more than seven months after then Interim Superintendent Mendel Stewart trimmed more than $60 million from the district’s school facilities program while fulfilling all building requirements previously made by the board and administration.

Stewart presented board members, who approved his recommendation, with a budget of $365,063,270. Following value engineering efforts, the proposed budget was reduced from approximately $425 million to $416,398,732 and further reduced by eliminating 124,500 square feet from the high schools, 15,000 square feet from the career center and 18,000 from each of the two new elementary schools.

“I think it’s been impressive,” said board member Alex Saitta of Stewart’s cost reduction efforts. “We sat down at a meeting last year, and Dr. Stewart said these buildings were going to cost $400 million and we had $365 million. But I appreciate Dr. Stewart telling us where we stood because we were standing in the dark.”

Now that the cost has been approved for the new Pickens High School, the chronological order for building the other new high schools is: Liberty High School, slated to open in the fall of 2011; Easley High School, to open in January 2012 and Daniel High School, set to open in the fall of 2012. The new career and technology center will open in the fall of 2011, while the new Liberty-area elementary will open in the fall of 2010 and the new Dacusville Elementary in January 2011.

Though Daniel High will be the last of the four new high schools to undergo construction, board members say final drawings and construction cost should be approved in February of next year. That, coupled with the fact that Pickens High School will soon kick off the construction of the new high schools, is something that excites Daniel area representative Dr. Herbert Cooper.

“We have the first high school coming (Pickens), and we got a good price,” Cooper said. “I think everyone’s going to be excited and, obviously, this sets the tone for the other three. I think you’ll continue to get a good price.”

Board member B.J. Skelton, whose Six Mile area feeds into the Daniel school attendance area at the middle and high school levels, agrees.

“We were able to issue a contract for our first high school, knowing that we have three more before us in the near future,” Skelton said. “I think the price we got for Pickens was outstanding as we look forward to future projects.”

Skelton said he is also pleased that the new schools will enable the district to “get rid of our portables throughout the county.”

“That is a tremendous boost to our educational program and the safety of our schools,” he said.

Cooper feels the board has worked hard to ensure that the new schools are equitable — facility-wise and in academic programs.

“We wanted to do it right and do what we need to do to have them (facilities) for the next 60 years,” Cooper said.

The fact that the new Daniel High is the last of the four high schools to undergo construction is something Cooper feels could actually be a blessing in disguise.

“We have time (to prepare it),” which is good,” he said, adding that the academic wing will consist of three stories due to space limitations on the property. The new high school will be built on the site of the current Singleton Field and all facilities, including the new football stadium, will be built on the same side of S.C. Highway 133 where the school currently stands.