Isle of Wight leaders press forward on Westside Elementary replacement as repairs mount

Isle of Wight County supervisors and the Isle of Wight County School Board on Oct. 7 discussed plans to replace Westside Elementary School after staff showed a video and outlined years of recurring water leaks, plumbing failures and a deteriorating roof.

The discussion moved quickly from the school’s immediate safety and maintenance problems to capacity planning and where a replacement would sit in the county-wide capital improvement plan (CIP). School staff asked the school board Thursday to allow architects to prepare initial design and cost estimates that the boards could use when seeking funding.

School staff and the principal described repeating leaks, damaged ceiling tiles, failing restroom plumbing and classrooms that sometimes must be relocated during storms. “When it rains at West Side … We have to put a lot of caution signs, a lot of buckets to collect water, and it really becomes a hazard for students and teachers and staff,” Matt Johnson, principal of Westside Elementary School, said in the video shown to both boards.

Dr. Coleman, a school division official who presented repair spending and estimates, told the joint meeting that repairs and upgrades over the past two to three years total “roughly about 800 to 900,000.” He said the division’s earlier roof estimate of $1.7 million has escalated to $4.5 million for a complete roof replacement, and that a full renovation to extend the current building…