Supervisors deny sale of Ingleside/Burkeville Elementary, approve school carryovers and state funding adjustments

Nottoway County supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to deny a request by the Nottoway County School Board to sell the former Burkeville (Ingleside) Elementary School and retain the proceeds for school capital projects.

The vote followed a lengthy public hearing in which mayors, longtime residents, historians and volunteer organizations told supervisors the building serves active community uses and urged the board not to permit a sale.

Gerald Smith, mayor of the town of Burkeville, told the board that his town has infrastructure that connects to the property and called the school a local historical landmark. "Burkeville has a stake in it," he said, and asked that the town be included in discussions.

Dr. Jackie Green August, speaking as a local historian and preservation advocate, traced the property's history to 1892, described its role for African American education and said that selling the building would erase that history. Several speakers described active community programs in the building: the Hope Food Pantry serves more than 400 people monthly, a food-distribution nonprofit uses classroom and kitchen space, the registrar's office occupies part of the facility, the building functions as an emergency shelter and community meeting space, and community organizations run fitness and health programs there.

Kevin Hewitt, a Hope Food Pantry volunteer, told supervisors: "By allowing the Hope Food Pantry to continue to operate at Burkeville Elementary, you're not just keeping the lights on in an old building. You're helping to keep hope alive for hundreds of people right here in Nottoway County." Several speakers asked the board to require the school board to surplus the property to the county rather than permit a private sale.

After public comment, a motion to deny the school board's request to sell the property passed 5-0. Chairman Collins read a point of clarification earlier in the hearing that the school board holds the deed to the building; speakers and several supervisors noted the county previously paid for construction, and that statutes and county procedures determine the surplus and sale process.

School budget actions approved Immediately after the public hearing the Board approved two school finance items that the school division had requested: - A budget adjustment of additional state funds totaling $407,172 for special-education services, summer-school funding, English-learner support and staff training. The school superintendent told the board this item has no locality (county) match requirement and is state funding allocated under the enacted state budget. The board approved the adjustment 5-0. - A school carryover of $3,024,096.75 (direct-aid and encumbered funds the division did not spend by fiscal year-end). The superintendent said carryover is allowable under the state's school finance provisions when the division has met its required local match; the board approved the carryover 5-0. School leaders said some carryover funds will be set aside in a money-market account for future capital needs such as security vestibules and roof/HVAC work, and some will restore items cut from the prior budget year (including counseling and transportation supplies).

Why it matters Speakers and supervisors framed the building as a functioning community asset that supports food distribution, registrar services, emergency shelter capacity and local history preservation. Denying the sale preserves the status quo while supervisors and school leaders continue discussions about property stewardship and capital needs.

What supervisors asked next Supervisors asked the school division for a prioritized capital-improvement list and said they will continue discussions on whether the county should seek to take surplus title to the property in order to manage community uses. The board also scheduled follow-up budget and capital conversations with school leaders.

Sources: public testimony at board meeting; Nottoway County Schools superintendent presentation; school budget documents submitted to the board.