HAWKINSVILLE, Ga. — Pulaski County students are beginning a new semester in a brand-new school.
For those that have been inside the new K-12 building, they say it’s a sight to be seen.
"Oh, it’s big, because I got lost when I went in there. I ain't know where I was going, but it was so nice," Karen Bray said.
Bray has lived in Hawkinsville for 40 years and the last time she remembers a school being built was quite some time ago.
"Maybe in the '80s?” she said.
It started in 2019 with a proposal from former superintendent Al Pollard and a plan to combine three schools under one $48 million roof using state and SPLOST money.
Four years later, the school is open and functional.
"I think it’s a good opportunity for the kids and for Hawkinsville, it’s absolutely beautiful. It's kind of sad to me, too, because I went there as well, I graduated from Hawkinsville, I was born and raised here, but it’s awesome to see this new transition for Hawkinsville,” Courtney King said.
With a fifth-grader now learning alongside elementary- and high-schoolers, King said she had concerns at first, but not after seeing things come to life.
"I was like, 'Ooh, my child is going to be with all of these big kids,' but after walking in there and kind of seeing the school and how it’s kind of separated, I'm like, 'OK, it’s not that bad,'" she said.
Students returned to the facility Jan. 6. 13WMAZ reached out to the Pulaski County Schools Superintendent Debbie Puckett to talk about the new addition, and she declined.