The fourth and final in a series of town hall meetings on the Stafford County Public Schools Capital Improvement needs is Thursday, September 8 at 7 p.m.
School Board members Patricia Healy (Rockhill) and Maureen Siegmund (Garrisonville) will host the discussion at North Stafford High School, 839 Garrisonville Road in North Stafford.
The discussion comes as Stafford County Public School Board members are pushing a plan to construct nearly half-billion dollars worth of new classrooms and renovations of older buildings. School officials list the projects in their capital improvement plan.
However, efforts to meet with the group that would pay the bill — the Board of Supervisors — have fallen flat. During a School Board meeting on August 9, 2022, School Board members encouraged the public to rally members of the Board of Supervisors to their cause.
The school division is one of the fastest-growing in Virginia and says it needs a new high school, priced at $150.4 million, and three new elementary schools at a combined $161 million. One of the schools would replace Hartwood Elementary School.
The plan also calls for replacing Drew Middle School on Route 1 for about $74 million. The school division also wants to add a new wing to North Stafford High School, replace its Rising Star Early Childhood Education Center, and buy and renovate a building owned by the University of Mary Washington, among other projects.
The country’s rising population and an unexpected influx of new students are driving the need for growth. In 2021, the Board of Supervisors approved funding for a new high school and two elementary schools.
The Stafford County Administrator’s Proposed Budget, including the Capital Improvement Plan, will be presented on March 7, 2023. Afterward, Supervisors will meet with the School Board to discuss their upcoming operating and capital needs on March 21, 2023.
More than 30,000 children returned to classes at Stafford County Public Schools on August 9, 2022, for the start of the 2022-23 school year.
The town hall series began on August 25 and were held at Conway and Rocky Run elementary schools and Shirley Heim Middle School.
