Brevard High demolition begun; DPI review delays school bond project timeline, county says

County Manager Jamie Lauder told the Transylvania County Schools Board on April 21 that demolition at Brevard High School has begun but a state review will delay parts of the joint school bond program.

Lauder said the Department of Public Instruction told district staff that the application for Brevard High’s limited-scope work requires formal DPI review and “they just said that they would take 6 to 8 weeks to review.” He added the review likely means the project will not be ready by the start of the next school year as originally hoped.

Lauder described other project milestones: an environmental analysis around on‑site storage tanks is complete and a meeting between county staff, the contractor and school staff was scheduled to consider mitigation and replacement for a tank damaged during testing. He said the architect contract had been reviewed by the attorney and was ready to move toward signature, and a draft RFQ for a CMAR (construction manager at risk) was ready to issue once the architect contract is in place. The school/county subcommittee has completed project‑manager interviews and staff expect to announce a hire soon.

Lauder asked board members for help in urging a faster DPI review, saying he and Dr. Fletcher have contacted state legislators and the superintendent’s office and invited trustees to join that outreach. When trustees asked whether staff knew the cause of the DPI delay, Lauder said the agency had simply notified the district that the project required review; the district had requested an emergency‑statute review but DPI determined a review was required.

Ending: Lauder said the subcommittee will likely meet in May or June to work with the incoming project manager and review architect updates. The board requested staff continue to report schedule changes and to share correspondence with DPI and state officials about review timing.