Consultants from MGT Consulting presented a districtwide facilities assessment to the Cumberland County Board committees on Dec. 2 and recommended a phased "rightsizing" strategy combining selected school closures and targeted new construction.

"You're operating more buildings than your current student population and long-term revenue can sustainably support," Dr. Lance Richards said as he opened the consultant presentation. MGT told the board its review identified roughly $805 million of deferred maintenance across the district and proposed a prioritized $315 million capital program over seven years, including $160 million earmarked for new construction.

MGT outlined three options. Option A would close selected underutilized or aging schools and redistribute students to nearby campuses, generating immediate reductions in facility upkeep and enabling capital reinvestment; Option B would use the $160 million to replace E.E. Smith High School at its existing site; Option C would spread the $160 million across multiple new elementary projects and renovate E.E. Smith with other funds. Consultants said the district could combine Option A with either B or C but could not do B and C simultaneously without additional funding.

MGT estimated the plan the consultants favored (a hybrid of A and C) could yield about $13 million in annual operational savings when fully implemented, reprioritize roughly $37.5 million of deferred maintenance in the seven-year plan, and avoid approximately $40 million in long-term deferred maintenance. They estimated about 2,400 students would be affected in the first phase of closures and stressed that only a portion of staffing costs is recouped immediately because instructional staff generally follow students.

Board members asked detailed questions about transportation impacts, swing-space needs during construction, site footprints for proposed new schools, community engagement and the fate of divested properties. Consultants repeatedly emphasized transition management and transparent community communication as central to implementation.

District staff said Option A could be implemented without new construction while B and C require decisions about how to allocate the $160 million set aside for new construction. Staff committed to returning with cascading decisions and additional details after the new year.

Next steps: district staff will take consultant recommendations to further analysis and bring recommended boundary, transportation and transition plans to the board for decisions in coming months.