Appomattox County Schools in need of millions

Appomattox County Schools need millions of dollars worth of capital improvements, according to a recent facilities study.

William Perrow, the division’s director of business, said the school board commissioned the study in June and reviewed its findings at a recent joint meeting with the school board and county board of supervisors.

The study, compiled by Dominion Seven Architects, showed Appomattox Primary and Appomattox County High schools do not meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the school division’s maintenance budget is significantly under funded, and significant renovations and additions are needed throughout the school system.

According to the study, the primary school’s renovation should be the county’s top priority. It has trailers still in use from the 1970s, and mechanical and electrical systems that have reached their expected life span. Renovation costs were estimated between $11.3 million and $14 million.

The report also estimates costly work is needed in the county’s middle school, including a metal roof and wood cornice of the building that must be replaced this year. Renovation estimates for the middle school are between $8.8 million and $12.5 million. The school was renovated in the mid-1990s, but parts of the building are 50 to 100 years old and require more upkeep.

The high school’s needs are outlined as the county’s second priority. The report recommends a renovation and cites “the electrical system in the building has reached a critical point.” The company that manufactures the building’s electrical panels is out of business and breakers and other components fail regularly, the report stated. The cost to complete work at the school is estimated at about $37.4 million.

Perrow said he wasn’t entirely surprised with the findings.

“I think we knew we needed a lot of this stuff. I don’t know we had a good concept of the cost. I think the study put a price tag on,” he said, adding historically not enough money has been put into the upkeep of the schools.

Perrow said money has typically been put toward educational programming, not capital expenditures.

Perrow said the school board commissioned the study, which cost about $45,000, because it had been such a long time since it had reviewed the system’s capital needs. Perrow said part of that cost was to put division building records on CDs.

Now, the 40-page study has yielded some harsh realities the board of supervisors and school board must sort out. Perrow said the initial joint meeting was to look at the study; another meeting is planned for December.

“Now hopefully we’ll meet and iron out hard-core budget stuff,” he said.