Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) facilities staff provided a detailed construction and capital-asset update to the Fairfax County School Board Comprehensive Planning and Development Committee (CPDC), summarizing project schedules, permitting issues, sustainability targets and the district’s approach to prioritizing replacement work through multiple renovation “queues.”

The presentation, delivered by facilities staff (Jessica Gilles and David Bennett, assistant director of facilities), listed project status and near-term milestones for many renovation and construction projects across the county, from Armstrong Elementary to Willow Springs. Staff reported that Armstrong Elementary received a notice to proceed for construction on March 13 and that the contractor completed preconstruction submissions and is beginning site preparation. Bonnie Brae roofing work was described as nearing completion and phase-1 areas targeted for turnover to the school in May. Crossfield phase 2 reached substantial completion on April 12, with student relocations from trailers occurring over spring break and a ribbon-cutting scheduled for April 29.

Several larger projects were flagged for distinct updates. Centerville’s building and site are in the permit review process; the project is on hold pending resolution with the Fairfax County Park Authority or an alternative solution. Staff said the Centerville project is designed to be highly energy-efficient, projecting an energy use intensity (EUI) of 13.6—well below the system high-school average EUI of 53.8—and that staff are studying off-site feasibility alternatives if the site cannot be permitted.

Justice High School’s three-story addition, cafeteria expansion and related spaces were turned over to the school ahead of schedule; a capital-project completion ceremony is scheduled for May 28. Louise Archer and Wakefield Forest projects were reported as turned over to schools and in closeout; capital-project completion events for several schools were scheduled in May.

Facilities staff also summarized districtwide capital-asset practices. They said FCPS funds major maintenance and capital-asset replacement through a mix of operating funds, county infrastructure replacement funds, non-bond construction funding, sinking funds and year-end county funds; the work described in the briefing is not funded by bond referenda. Staff listed typical asset categories maintained through these funds—HVAC replacements, roofing, playgrounds, athletic fields and lighting, elevators, ADA upgrades, and more—and said tentative spend plans are developed one to two years in advance but are not locked because emergency replacements can displace scheduled items.

On renovation “queues,” staff explained they maintain developed queues for different asset categories (for example, HVAC, playgrounds, stadium turf) based primarily on asset age and maintenance history. They said an FCPS facilities condition assessment (FCA) procured through a vendor (RFP released; pre-proposal conference had more than 60 attendees) will provide a more comprehensive, third-party dataset to supersede in-house queues where appropriate. The FCPS representative noted: "The facility condition assessment is gonna, once that is completed, will supersede this list, and that will give us more comprehensive information on the exact nature of the equipment and the potential funding for their replacements." (Jessica Gilles)

Committee members asked about how queues interact with renovation projects. Staff said replacement work is typically postponed for schools within a few years of an expected renovation to avoid duplicative work, but that sometimes facilities must replace assets shortly before renovation because of failures. The district’s annual CIP replacement allocation for this category was cited as roughly $17,000,000 per year for replacement work drawn from those funds. When asked about the size of the backlog, staff said the current estimated maintenance/backlog is around $500,000,000.

Other operational highlights in the presentation included:
- Outdoor classrooms: County staff agreed to review and approve outdoor-classroom permits without requiring drinking fountains and lavatories (a prior permit requirement that made some projects financially infeasible); substantial completion for the first round of outdoor classrooms is expected in early May, and 15 locations are moving toward permit and bid advertisement with construction completion targeted for early 2026.
- Solar installations: The next school-board meeting will include consent to approve a power purchase/grant agreement for solar panel installations at 25 schools; nine are in design and expected to file permits in the next 60 days.
- Stadium restrooms: Delivery and installation of stadium-restroom units are underway; Hayfield’s unit is expected in early July, and the final unit will complete that batch.

Staff said the renovation queues are maintained as living lists that use installation date, work-order history and condition data where available; for some assets (playgrounds, stadium turf) FCPS maintains spreadsheets that rank sites by age and condition. Staff emphasized they try not to assign strict timing (for example, "#8 on the painting queue will be done in X years") because emergencies can change priorities.

Committee members requested follow-up materials including: the queue spreadsheets for playgrounds and other asset categories, a list of capital-asset items not currently tracked, historical spending breakdowns by replacement category (to see how the roughly $17 million annual allocation has been spent), and the FCA timeline and how that third-party assessment will be integrated into FCPS planning.