Ellijay Elementary Is Coming Down: New PK-5 School Due by December 2027

Ellijay Elementary School, the PK-5 campus at 32 McCutchen Street that serves roughly 750 Gilmer County children, is slated to be demolished and replaced with a new building, and the district's construction paperwork sets substantial completion of the replacement at Dec. 1, 2027. For families with kids there now, that means the next two school years unfold around a major building project, and possibly at a different address.

Gilmer County Schools is delivering the job under the Construction Manager-at-Risk method. Charles Black Construction Company is the construction manager. Breaux & Associates Architects is the architect. Subcontractor bids for the Gilmer County job went out in May 2026.

The scope is blunt about what happens to the current building. It covers demolition of the existing Ellijay Elementary School and other buildings as needed, construction of a new Ellijay Elementary, and "possible assistance in preparing Ellijay Primary for occupancy during construction." That last line is the one parents should read twice. The old Ellijay Primary building sits on the same street, at 196 McCutchen, and has been closed as a school for years.

Why the district is rebuilding instead of renovating

Superintendent Dr. Brian Ridley has said the building is old and has a lot of foundation issues, and that a school has stood on the site for close to 100 years. Board members were told that upgrading the existing school would cost more than what the state would put toward replacing it, based on the architect's estimates.

The site is in a floodplain. That has meant special considerations from the City of Ellijay, the Georgia Emergency Management Agency and federal agencies, which slows the approval work down before a shovel ever moves. Topographical studies were ordered as part of the planning.

The Board of Education also approved a resolution to phase out the facility. It is an administrative step, not a closure: the state stops counting the building in its facility calculations, which lets the district begin earning state replacement and capital improvement dollars while students are still using the school.

The timeline in the documents

A December completion date lands mid-school-year, not at a summer break. Whether students move into the new building over winter break, at the start of the following year, or on some other schedule has not been announced.

What it costs

State audit records list "significant renovations, construction, improvements, additions and equipment to Ellijay Elementary School" at an original $20 million, with a current estimate of $30 million. The phase-out resolution is what opens the door to state replacement and capital dollars flowing toward that total.

What parents still don't know

Several things remain open. The district has not published a date for demolition, a confirmed decision on relocating students to the former Ellijay Primary campus, or a bus and drop-off plan for a temporary campus. Earlier in planning, Ridley described two possible sequences: tear down the current building first, or build the new school beside it while students keep using the old one. Where the new building lands on the property drives that call, and the site approval process is the slow part.

Ridley discussed the changes coming to Ellijay Elementary, including demolition at the school, in an Aug. 1, 2026 local radio interview. Board of Education meetings are where the relocation decision and the construction schedule will be aired publicly; meeting dates and the district's facilities plan documents are posted on the Gilmer County Schools facilities plan page. Open house has already come and gone at EES for this year, so the next real look at the plan comes from the board table.

Keep up with Gilmer County school news at Ellijay Georgia Community Website, and if your child is zoned for Ellijay Elementary, join the conversation in our Community Forum and tell us what you want answered first. You can read more education stories and follow related county decisions in our government and politics coverage.