IFN Staff

Iredell-Statesville Schools officials hosted a groundbreaking ceremony on Friday to commemorate the beginning of construction of Weathers Creek High School.

Located on 114 acres off Overcash Road in Troutman, the high school is scheduled to open in 27 months, just in time for the 2027-2028 school year.

I-SS Superintendent Jeff James thanked voters and county commissioners for supporting the project, and recognized the work of Our Schools First (OS1) for garnering public support for the new school.

Weathers Creek High School, he explained, will become the hub of the community it serves.

“It’s not just a school,” he said. “It’s an educational complex.”

Other speakers at the groundbreaking included I-SS Board Chairman Doug Knight, N.C. Rep Todd Carver and Iredell County Commissioner Gene Houpe.

“In three years we’re going to have a school we’re proud of,” Knight said.

Carver, who previously served on the I-SS Board, said he understands the concerns about the cost of the new school, but he said it was an investment in the future of the county.

“If you think education is expensive, try ignorance,” Carver said, paraphrasing a famous Benjamin Franklin quote.

The cost of the project, he said, will be forgotten decades from now, but the mark that future students will make on the community will endure.

“There might be a president of the United States walk through the door one day,” he added.

Houpe, the senior member of the Board of Commissioners, praised the district for working within the budget parameters set by county officials.

The new school is needed to alleviate overcrowding at Lake Norman High School and South Iredell High School, which has been driven by rapid population growth in the southern end of the county.

Many counties would love to have to deal with the growth that Iredell County has experienced, Houpe said.

“The Lord continues to bless our county, our state and our country,” he explained.

Iredell County voters approved an $80 million bond referendum to fund construction of the news school in March of 2020, but construction costs had skyrocketed by the time I-SS put the project out for bids. And county commissioners balked at paying upwards of $170 million.

After scaling back the scope of the project, I-SS awarded a $130 million contract to Monteith Construction for the project.

In January, the Iredell County Board of Commissioners approved resolutions authorizing the sale of an $83.9 million general obligation bond and a $40 million general obligation bond to finance the construction costs.

The first phase of the project involves construction of the school and grading for athletic facilities.

Funding for the second phase, which includes construction of the athletic stadium and ballfields, has not been approved by commissioners.

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