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Buncombe County Schools lays out multi-year backlog, asks for phased funding
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Summary
District officials presented a multi-year capital needs list that includes W.D. Williams phased renovation ($28 million total), Glen Arden replacement planning ($2 million to fund design; total rebuild estimate cited ~ $45 million), and systemwide needs for lobby security, technology backbone, roofing and mechanical replacements.
Buncombe County Schools presented the commission with a broad capital portfolio and asked the county to consider phased funding for several high-cost projects.
Clark, speaking for Buncombe County Schools, said the district is the fifteenth-largest in the state with 44 campuses and a large number of separate roof areas and mechanical systems that require ongoing replacement. "We have a lot of facilities... a hundred and two acres worth of roofs in our buildings that we, we maintain," Clark said.
Key district priorities and numbers: - W.D. Williams: district described a multi-phase program. Clark said phase 2 is underway and requested an additional $3.5 million to complete phase 2b; phase 3 (a full renovation) would require roughly $28 million in total to finish the campus. - Glen Arden Elementary: district reported the building is in poor condition; Clark said architects estimated the building would require more than $4 million in immediate repairs but that cost-effectiveness favored a new building. The district requested $2 million to start design and planning for replacement; Clark said the total replacement estimate could be about $45 million (subject to refinement during design). - Technology backbone: the district described a 2013-era backbone that needs replacement; officials called cyber resilience and network reliability priorities. - Roofing, mechanical systems and controls: Clark provided an inventory of roof areas, fire-alarm systems and chillers with life-cycle replacement estimates and asked the commission to consider multi-year funding to maintain these infrastructure items.
Why it matters: Clark emphasized the operational difficulty of phasing large-scale renovations and the student-impact costs of stop-start funding. "Construction and school don't go well together," she said, noting that phased approaches can stretch disruption across multiple years but are sometimes unavoidable given limited funding.
Next steps: District staff asked the commission to consider phased allocations and to fund design work for Glen Arden now to speed any future replacement. Commissioners asked staff for financial scenarios and committed to more detailed discussion at the next meeting.
Ending: No funding decision was made; the districts full prioritized lists will be reviewed alongside county finance scenarios in follow-up meetings.
