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School board chair says joint city‑school task force will seek compromise on $60M CIP, Sandusky rebuild uncertain
Summary
Lynchburg City Schools and City Council have formed a joint task force to reconcile school facility needs and the city's capital improvement plan. The committee will meet through April and aims to recommend joint options but has no formal decision‑making power; Sandusky rebuild appears unlikely under current draft city CIP.
School Board Chair Dr. Day told the Lynchburg City Schools board on Tuesday that a joint task force with City Council will meet through late April to try to reconcile the school division’s capital requests with the city’s draft capital improvement plan (CIP).
"This new committee, the joint task force or JTF, will meet for the first time on February 27," Dr. Day said, adding the panel plans four additional meetings and will expire no later than June 30. The task force, co‑chaired by Day and a council member, is composed of three school board representatives and three city council members.
At Tuesday’s briefing, Day said the committee adopted a simplified statement of purpose and agreed to follow Robert’s Rules of Order, with a special rule that members must vote (no abstentions) unless a conflict exists. The task force will not have authority to bind either body; it intends to produce recommendations both bodies could support.
Day said the task force will consider "close‑to‑home" zoning, which schools will be open for the 2025‑26 school year, alternate education facilities, school enrollments and capacities, alignment of school plans with the city's proposed CIP, and possible state funding options. He warned that the board’s plan to rebuild Sandusky "does not appear, at least to me, possible based on the city's draft CIP plan for 2025 through 2030."
The task force’s next meetings were listed as March 12, March 27, April 10 and April 29, with the April 29 meeting intended as a joint full meeting of council and the school board to present a recommendation.
Board members emphasized the need to preserve institutional memory by keeping a mix of first‑, second‑, and third‑year members on the panel. Dr. Day and other board members noted the panel’s short timeline and urged that discussions remain focused on student needs rather than personalities.
The task force’s procedural choices were discussed: Day said he will preside over meetings and will vote only to break ties; the co‑chair from the city side retains full voting rights as a council member. Day stressed the committee’s role is advisory: "All it proposes to do is try to come up with a recommendation that we think both bodies will support. But then it's up to the two bodies…if they really are gonna support that recommendation or not," he said.
No formal votes were taken by the school board at Tuesday’s meeting; the announcement primarily set expectations and schedules for upcoming joint deliberations.
