NK School Board’s capital plan exceeds $30 million

Just over $30 million in capital improvement projects for New Kent schools are heading for consideration by the county’s Board of Supervisors.

New Kent School Board members voted during their Dec. 3 meeting to approve a revised list of eight projects that includes a new 700-student elementary school with a price tag that now totals $20 million. A year ago, figures for the new school fell just under $17.4 million.

School officials are basing the increased cost on state Department of Education estimates. State officials say an 80,000-square foot building is required for housing 700 students. Current building cost is $180 per square foot, but with adjustments for inflation, the square foot cost is expected to be $200 by the time work is projected to start in 2009-10. School officials are aiming at opening the school in the fall of 2010. Land for a new school has been proffered to the county by developers of the Kentland project near Colonial Downs, but that site may not conform with growth patterns in New Kent, they say.

Construction, state officials estimate, will cost $16 million. The remaining $4 million covers architectural and engineering fees plus site work.

New Kent school officials, for now, are placing $2 million of the estimated elementary school cost in the next fiscal year (2008-09) when architectural, engineering, and site work is projected to begin. But final decision on when or if a new school is built rests with supervisors who are expected to consider the schools’ proposed capital plan during fiscal 2008 budget discussions early next year.

School officials, meanwhile, are justifying the need for a new school on the current elementary-age population (1,250) and the capacity of the county’s two existing elementary schools. Both Watkins and New Kent Elementary have undergone recent renovations so that each has a 700-student capacity.

Using numbers provided last January by the county’s planning department, school officials say New Kent’s school-age population could grow by 338 children per year. If half are elementary age, enrollment at the two elementary schools could top 1,750 at the start of the 2010 school year, well above the schools’ combined 1,400 capacity, they say.

Overall county enrollment for the current school year, however, is running below projections. During a Nov. 28 work session, School Board members learned that student numbers are close to 40 less than anticipated.

School officials, meanwhile, are revising upward the cost of converting the existing high school to a middle school. Projections last year placed the cost at $1.1 million. Now the price tag, they say, is expected to be closer to $1.25 million.

And a $6 million project to expand the existing high school in 2011-12 appears for the first time on the list. The project would up student capacity at the school from 800 to 1,000. The school could reach its current capacity by the fall of 2011, school officials say.

Also, the schools’ proposed capital plan includes two new projects slated for the near future. A $250,000 project to expand bleachers on the visitors’ side of the high school football stadium and erect fencing for security and to shield the playing field from view from elevated fields nearby has been placed in 2008-09. The visitors’ side will become the home side starting with the 2008 football season.

Also, a $250,000 project has been added to expand the playground size and update equipment at Watkins Elementary in 2009-10.

Other proposed projects on the list are:

–$1.7 million to replace four school buses in the county’s fleet each year for the next five years. One bus is now $72,000 and the overall cost has been adjusted upward each year for inflation. Added to the project is replacing a driver education car ($15,000) each year. School officials say over half of the county’s existing bus fleet exceeds the state’s age guideline of 12 years;

–$500,000 to upgrade the high school’s weight training building to a field house for home and visiting teams. The project is slated for 2008-09 to coincide with completion of the new high school;

–$600,000 to replace the roof over the cafeteria wing of the old middle school has been pushed back to 2013-14. Recent inspection revealed the roof has a remaining 5-to-6-year life span.

Also pushed back (2012-13) is upgrade and use of the old middle school buildings. Cost of the project has not been determined.