York County schools present multiyear renovation plan for Tabb High, spotlight geothermal option and classroom conversions

Superintendent Dr. Shandor and school division staff presented the York County Board of Supervisors with a multiyear capital-improvement plan for Tabb High School on March 27, describing a project that would replace aging HVAC and electrical systems, install a new front entrance and learning commons, convert the existing library into classrooms and add other site improvements including a turf field and LED lighting.

The school division said the average age of a school in York County is 54 years and that Tabb High was built in 1972. "The average age of a school in your county is 54 years old. And what we're talking about this evening is Tabb High School. As you can see, it was built 1972," Dr. Shandor said while introducing the overview of district facility work and priorities.

School officials said the project is being designed as a summer‑sequence, multiyear renovation intended to limit disruption to the high school's calendar and extracurricular programs. Dr. Carroll, the division's chief operations officer, told supervisors the Tabb renovation moved from earlier, smaller projects into a larger comprehensive plan after other priorities and rezoning changed the division's space needs: "We were having discussions for quite a while on the fact that we would like to have a full renovation at Tabb because it was the next one," Carroll said.

What the project would cover - Core systems: The CIP material presented lists rooftop, roof replacement and whole‑building HVAC replacement as major elements. School staff said Tabb's HVAC is about 27 years old and that its roof is among the oldest in the division. The planned electrical upgrade includes replacement of aging switchgear. - Geothermal versus conventional HVAC: The division presented two construction‑only comparisons: a conventional HVAC replacement with an estimated construction cost of roughly $12.5 million and a geothermal conversion at about $15 million (construction only). School staff characterized the incremental cost for geothermal construction alone as about $2.5 million above the conventional option and said geothermal could deliver operational savings. One staff member summarized the expected operational benefit: "Annually, we're gonna save over 100,000 right out of the gate in our operational funds," when comparing a geothermal program with the current energy cost for the building. - Other components: A new learning commons and front entrance, a back‑gym entrance tied to site work, LED lighting upgrades, electrical upgrades, roof work prepared for potential solar, a new pump house related to the geothermal field, and conversion of the existing library into four to six classrooms depending on final design choices. School staff also discussed a turf field and site drainage improvements as separate but related projects.

Cost, schedule and funding questions School officials said the current project estimate on the division CIP is substantially larger than earlier figures because additional work and program consolidations were folded into the Tabb scope. The division reported preliminary construction numbers and noted that architects and engineers have been contracted to refine scope and cost before competitive bidding. Officials said the division intends to limit on‑campus disruption by delivering much of the work in a shorter, concentrated schedule (two to three years in presentation discussion), rather than a five‑ to six‑year phased renovation.

On financing, staff said the district would propose using a mix of cash (the division noted a proposed $3 million cash contribution from the county revenue stabilization fund) and debt. County staff and supervisors asked about the expected debt‑service impact: the presentation projected the first debt payments on the Tabb project would come in fiscal 2028–2029 and described a projected increase in annual debt service tied to the project (discussion ranged around $1.7 million for the first year of payments and approximately $2.5–3.0 million in combined annual service when phased into the county schedule, figures presented and discussed by staff during the meeting).

Operational tradeoffs and longevity School staff argued geothermal wells have long useful lives and that the division's geothermal installations elsewhere had not required replacement of buried loop fields over decades of operation. A member of the operations team said the closed‑loop wells can last decades if intact and that pumps and mechanical components typically have different lifecycle replacement schedules. Staff noted that while a geothermal conversion has an upfront premium, it reduces future HVAC replacement demand because the buried loop field is a persistent asset that would remain available for future mechanical upgrades.

Questions and concerns raised by supervisors and staff Supervisors and county staff pressed the presenters on: the jump in the Tabb line item since the prior CIP, the added elements that drove the increase, whether the geothermal premium is justified by energy savings, the project's return‑on‑investment timeline (staff presented a roughly 25‑year ROI estimate on geothermal under static energy‑price assumptions), and whether the scope could be phased to reduce near‑term borrowing. Presenters replied that phasing would likely prolong construction impacts to students and the community and could raise total lifecycle cost through inflation and repeated mobilizations; they also identified cost‑reduction strategies under review (direct procurement of specific engineered elements, pairing bids for LED lighting and turf to capture pricing efficiencies, and seeking available state or federal energy credits if eligible).

No formal action recorded No motion or formal vote on the Tabb project was recorded in the meeting transcript. Presenters said the school board had approved a CIP that included the project and that the board of supervisors will review and adopt a county CIP and budget later in the process.

What happens next School staff said they are refining designs with their contracted architectural and engineering firm, expect to further narrow scope and costs before a formal competitive bid, and will return to the board and county staff with refined estimates. County staff and supervisors said they would review the refined CIP entries and the county debt schedule before making a final funding decision.

Ending School division officials left the board with the view that the Tabb work is a near‑term priority driven by building age and unmet system replacement needs; county staff and supervisors signaled continued scrutiny of scope, timing and debt service before any final commitment.