The Paulding County School Board on Nov. 18 received an update on Crossroads Elementary construction and a timetable for elementary boundary realignment that district officials said is needed to balance enrollment after recent building projects.

Superintendent Steve Barnett said steel work on Crossroads is complete, block and brick installation are beginning, the roof is scheduled for completion in December and the building should be "dried in" by February. Barnett said the district still expects to open the school in August 2026 and that a bus barn – including fueling stations – is in the final design stages and planned to open with the school.

Barnett described how recent capacity additions and strategic additions across the district have created the need to adjust attendance boundaries. "This expanded capacity provides us with a great opportunity to balance enrollment at several schools that are full or projected to be over capacity," he said, and listed impacted schools including Abney, Burnt Hickory, Dallas, Northside, Roberts, Russom and Shelton.

The district will start public outreach immediately: an initial letter to impacted schools will be sent that evening, an elementary boundary realignment web page with three proposed boundary options will go live the following day, and community meetings are scheduled at Herschel Jones, Moses and Crossroads Middle Schools at 6:30 p.m. The online feedback window closes Dec. 11. Barnett said the board will receive a final boundary alignment recommendation on Jan. 13 and is expected to consider approval at a Jan. 27 meeting.

District staff identified David Ponder (operational planning coordinator), Dr. Kukaitis and Jay Dillon as leads on the process. Board members were asked to encourage community review and participation during the feedback period.