AFTER A 10 YEAR STUDY
The Henderson County School Board is looking to prioritize $150 million in facility needs over the next decade, which includes millions in upgrades to the district’s oldest schools.
The School Board was briefed on the 10-year facility needs study by Emily Kite of Novus Architects, whom the board hired last year to walk the 1.8 million square feet of school facility space and come up with a list of needs.
The all-encompassing assessment covers facility and school safety needs throughout the county as well as whether each schools meets current capacity needs recommended by the N.C. Department of Instruction. It also works to connect buildings together and replace modular classroom units.
That adds up to a $149.9 million list of needs over the next 10 years, covering renovations, new construction and overall maintenance needs at the schools. About $44.4 million is recommended in the 2019-20 fiscal year.
At this point the list is only an assessment of the school system’s needs, not necessarily what the School Board plans to ask of county commissioners this year.
“It’s not if these projects need completed, it’s just when,” said Superintendent Bo Caldwell. “We certainly want to work together with the county commissioners to let them know of our needs and work together with them for the funding.”
But the board did put replacing the HVAC systems at Flat Rock and Rugby middle schools in the fast lane, two $2 million projects to replace the four-pipe heating and cooling systems at the end of their useful lives
