School board hears report on 25+ capital projects including science labs, media centers and new transportation facility

Chief Operations Officer Dr. Dan Bowling told the Hampton City School Board on Feb. 12 that Hampton City Schools completed more than 25 capital improvement projects over the past year, including renovated science classrooms, five elementary media centers, upgrades to career academies and a new 15,000-square-foot transportation facility.

The presentation matters because the projects are intended to modernize learning spaces, improve safety and repurpose existing school buildings for expanded instructional use without acquiring new parcels in a land-constrained division.

Bowling described work on 16 science classrooms and adjacent prep rooms at Jones Middle School, Sims and the Kilgore Gifted Center. Renovations included asbestos abatement, demolition, new ceilings and LED lighting, classroom cabinetry and countertops, decorative flooring, new teacher demonstration desks and flexible furniture on wheels to support 21st-century science instruction. Bowling said the work created dedicated perimeter lab areas to let students conduct lab activities safely.

The division renovated five elementary media centers (Aberdeen, Captain John Smith, Forrest, Mary T. Christian and Mary W. Jackson), removing outdated shelving and furniture and installing new shelving, carpeting, ceiling tiles and soft seating. Presentation slides shown to the board said the new shelving increases capacity to hold more than 40,000 books; the media-center work included 54 soft-seating options, 58 new tables and 84 chairs.

At the high school level, the board saw before-and-after photos of the Phoebus Freshman Learning Academy and Bethel High School’s simulation lab. The Bethel simulation lab includes a 911 call-center monitor wall, an ambulance simulator, staged rooms for crime-scene investigation practice and other first-responder training spaces. Bowling said some former shop classrooms were repurposed to create larger instructional environments.

Bowling and staff also showed work on the driver-education facility at Phoebus, which included a new roof, HVAC, restroom renovation, resurfacing and relining of the driving range, and a new perimeter fence to provide students a safer real-life driving course.

The division opened a new transportation facility at 2001 Aluminum Avenue, a 15,000-square-foot building that replaces older leased buildings. The facility includes a bus wash station, 11 office spaces, training and conference rooms, break rooms, dispatch offices, security cameras and upgraded exterior lighting and fencing. Slides showed new paving and striping across the bus lot and a relined bus driving range.

Bowling’s slideshow listed other work: two new digital marquees, roof replacements, an upgraded schoolwide HVAC system at Bassett, roughly 1,600 LED lights installed across schools, eight renovated restrooms at Asbury and Langley, 93 exterior windows replaced at Asbury and Langley, and ongoing removal of unused portable classrooms in partnership with the city of Hampton.

Board members praised the work. Board member Joe Kilgore called Bowling’s presentation “one of my favorite presentations every year” and singled out the simulation lab and the transportation facility as “very impressive.” Board member Jason Samuels noted the division’s purchase and transformation of the transportation property from a leased, gravel site into a modern facility and urged planning for further long-term capital work.

Superintendent Dr. Raymond L. Haines and board members said a tour of the transportation facility will be scheduled and that the board will review a long-term capital-improvement plan in a forthcoming work session.

The presentation concluded with Bowling opening the floor for board questions; no formal action was required on the projects presented.