School officials, political figures and members of the public were on hand Wednesday as ground was broken for the new Pine Bluff High School.
The new $74 million building is expected to open for the 2026-2027 school year.
Pine Bluff School District Superintendent Jennifer Barbaree talked about the groundbreaking with Deltaplex News.
The new high school is being built on the same site as the current high school and is being paid for with $12.8 million from the state as well as a millage increase approved by voters in 2023. The new construction will require that five buildings on the current campus be torn down. Those buildings are the Trice, McGeorge, Patterson classroom buildings, the Fine Arts building and the ROTC building.
The new building is designed to hold 900 students and will feature a history wall, a new arena that seats 2,000 and will be completely enclosed.
Multiple high schools in Jefferson County which no longer exist will be recognized with plaques and other historical memorabilia on the history wall. Those included the former Dollarway High School, which was annexed by the Pine Bluff School District.
Among those on hand for the groundbreaking was Pine Bluff High alumna Lisa Hunter, who is a member of the State Board of Education.
Construction is expected to take two years and high school students will be moved to the former Jack Robey Junior High, which has been closed.
