The Savannah-Chatham County Public School System’s $700 million Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales program now has a new manager.
The SCCPSS Board approved an $18.9 million contract for Hoar Program Management
to serve as the project manager for the school system’s ESLPOST portfolio, which includes renovation of the board’s 208 Bull St. into an educational hub for architecture and urban design.Hoar Program Management offers a variety of construction-related services including planning, preconstruction and construction audits, according to its website. The company has a variety of educational facilities in its portfolio including projects in Brimingham, AL-area schools.
Hoar Program Management was selected from an initial seven bids,
which were assessed on experience, the work plan costs and interviews. That initial seven was refined to three potential managers, resulting in Hoar being recommended to the board by district staff.
The contract is for a five-year period and comes as the board recently made other notable-SPLOST related moves. The board approved its architect for 208 Bull St.’s renovation at its August meeting, a $135,000 contract that initiated design for the project.
During an ESPLOST update at the September board meeting, district staff said a request for proposals for the project’s construction manager will be sent out in October.
The school district’s ESPLOST was approved by county voters in March 2025 with 67% of the vote, making it the county’s fifth-ever ESPLOST. The ESPLOST is a penny sales tax that will support a list of capital projects approved by the board and included on the voter referendum.
In addition to 208 Bull St., the ESPLOST V list includes a West Chatham County Multiplex that would consolidate West Chatham Elementary and West Chatham Middle into one K-8 school. The board has approved an architect for that project with design underway, according to the September ESPLOST update.
The project also calls for a new athletic complex on the site and has an estimated cost of $115 million.
The district is also conducting a wetlands delineation on the site, because the proposed track, football stadium and practice fields are located on wetlands, according to district staff’s presentation.
There are multiple other ESPLOST V projects that have moved forward with hiring of architects. Those projects include the Windsor Forest Elementary School replacement, and renovations for Pooler Elementary and Charles Ellis Montessori School. Architect selection for rebuild of STEM Academy is currently underway.
The projected budget for all new builds is $321.6 million, while the budget for renovations is $288.1 million.
Evan Lasseter is the City of Savannah and Chatham County government reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at ELasseter@savannahnow.com.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah schools hire program manager for $700 million EPLOST projects
