Carrollton High School’s gym and restrooms are a step closer to renovations following the school board’s unanimous approval Thursday of the Qualified School Construction Bond (QSCB) Projects resolution.

During a special meeting, the board entered into an agreement with the Carrollton Redevelopment Authority to be the financial agent for the school system’s $8 million bond projects. The money will be used for two projects, building a sixth-grade wing at Carrollton Middle School and to renovate the gymnasium and restrooms at the high school.

“This is not the typical way to do construction,” said Superintendent Dr. Kent Edwards.

There are typically two ways for school systems to get money for construction projects, the most common of which is to use special purpose local option sales tax funds, approved by voters. The second manner is through bonds, sold to investors.

Steve Spofford, chief operating officer for Carrollton City Schools, said the QSCBs are no-interest bonds loaned to states through the American Recovery Reinvestment Act, part of the federal stimulus program.

The school system can decide when to start repayment of the loans and put the money into a fund that cannot be touched until the full amount is paid. The interest the account earns is placed in the account toward repayment of the loan, thereby helping to lower the total cost to be repaid, he said.

Because it is a federal program, the construction projects must be bid out based on Davis-Bacon Act guidelines, which can increase the cost of labor and the total cost of construction, he said. The possible increase, however, has been factored into the projects.

Construction of a two-story sixth-grade building will cost about $5.5 million, and renovations to the high school gym and restrooms are expected to cost $2.5 million.

“If we had the SPLOST funds, we would have already completed [the gym and restrooms],” Edwards said.

Spofford said the projects cannot start until the bids are advertised and opened, probably in November.

The sixth-grade building, which should take 12 to 14 months to complete, will not be started until after Carrollton hosts the state cross-country meet, Edwards said.

The gym renovations will probably interfere with at least one basketball season, said Edwards, who is talking with the coach about the best time to start the project.

Spofford said the gym should take about 10 months to construct.

The restroom renovations will probably not occur until next summer, he said. The facilities will be completely gutted, receiving new piping fixtures to bring the restrooms — built in the 1960s — up to code.

He said construction on the restrooms may be done in increments to align with school breaks.