New Kent School Board approves recommended $15 million CIP for FY2016-17

By Andre Jones | January 28, 2016 12:58 pm

New Kent’s School Board unanimously approved a recommended Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) from superintendent of schools David Myers during its Jan. 27 morning work session.

Members approved the $15 million plan that included one big ticket item. Myers is recommending a $13,642,550 massive overhaul of New Kent Elementary School for repairs.

“That school is 43 years old,” Myers said at the Jan. 11 regular school board meeting to members. “We have been going around and receiving pricing from a variety of people and places, including DOE (Department of Education) about the costs to do an overhaul and this is the figure that we’ve come up with.

“We have been working with the county on the issue and the possibility of these renovations,” the superintendent concluded.

Another big ticket item in the $15,059,217 CIP requests for next year is relocation of the maintenance shop. Currently, the shop is located on Route 249 (New Kent Highway) between New Kent Elementary School and the Old Historic School.

“We are going to collaborate with the county on the possibility to move that facility,” Morgheim commented at the Jan. 11 meeting. “We know that specific area has been looked at as prime real estate for parking.”

Relocating the maintenance shop is estimated to cost $558,775. Other proposed projects in New Kent schools’ CIP are bus replacement ($275,208), technology one-to-one conversion ($200,000), sealing pavement for entranceways ($137,684), replacing windows ($90,000), lighting ($70,000), and HVAC units ($60,000) at New Kent Middle School, and miscellaneous improvements (i.e. painting) throughout all schools ($25,000).

Myers is expected to present his proposed CIP, as well as the school’s budget to the county’s board of supervisors as early as the supervisors’ February work session. The superintendent is scheduled to unveil his 2016-17 proposed budget on Feb. 8.