The Barrow County Board of Education has signed off on a guaranteed maximum price of $46,999,523 with Parrish Construction Group to build a full athletics complex at Barrow Arts & Sciences Academy, clearing the way for construction to begin in the immediate future with completion slated for fall 2028.
The vote came at the board's November 3 meeting, as reported by Main Street News. Parrish Construction Group, an Alpharetta-based contractor and construction management firm, was selected for the project in 2025, with Atlanta-based Cunningham Forehand Matthews and Moore Architects Inc. tapped the same year to design the complex. The finished facility will include a football stadium with track and field capabilities, a baseball field, a softball field, a fieldhouse, a competition gym, restrooms, concessions, batting facilities, a weight room, a training room, classrooms, storage facilities and a pressbox.
Bids Came In Under Expectations
Joe Perno, the school system's assistant superintendent for system operations, told the board he expected to have complete cost figures by the November 3 voting meeting, after lacking them at the October 27 work session. Parrish Construction Group and school system officials spent that stretch reviewing bids from numerous potential subcontractors on parts of the complex, a process Perno said was complicated by new elements added before subcontractor bids went out, along with subsequent construction-document updates. Subcontractors had also requested additional time to complete their bids.
That extra runway paid off. Perno reported more than 200 bids were received across more than three dozen scopes of work, calling it a phenomenal response that he said reflected great competition among potential subcontractors. The final guaranteed maximum price landed roughly $3 million below the school system's expected project cost, a savings Perno credited to the board's extra time and flexibility. Jared Callaway praised school system staff for advancing the BASA project toward construction and said communication with the board had been phenomenal.
Perno said the full athletic facility will allow BASA to host its current sports and add additional ones once the complex is complete.
How Barrow's Price Tag Stacks Up
Barrow County's project arrives as other Georgia districts have also poured big money into high school athletic facilities. Buford High School opened a $62 million stadium in 2025 that USA Today described as the most expensive high school stadium in the state. Phillip Beard Stadium was built to hold 10,000 people, and the City of Buford paid for it out of its general and enterprise funds, taking on no debt in the process. Fourteen suites at that stadium were made available for purchase at $15,000 per season.
Weapons Detection Systems Approved for Campus
The same November 3 meeting saw the board approve the purchase of five weapons detection systems for BASA, which will be installed at the school, including its 750-seat performing arts center. The systems will be provided by A3 Communications, a Buford, Georgia-based company that is already the school system's current weapons-detection-system supplier. The board approved A3 Communications as the sole-source supplier because the system already relies on its existing equipment.
Each unit costs $22,990, and the total purchase comes to $117,686.30 including additional equipment costs. The purchase will be funded by a state safety grant.
Calendar Change Adds Class Days, Fuel Costs Rise
Board members also approved a calendar change for the 2027-28 school year that adds two student class days, bringing the total to 180 days instead of 178. Under the change, September 3, 2027, and February 18, 2028, will shift from teacher workdays and student holidays to regular school days. Dr. James Bowen, the school system's assistant superintendent for support services, said the change aligns Barrow schools with the 180 scheduled class days used by area districts.
Separately, the board approved an additional $600,000 from the general fund for fuel purchases after the school system had spent nearly 42% of its fuel budget. The fuel budget increased from $1,217,411 to $1,817,411 as a result.
