School board adopts FY27–31 capital improvements plan including new elementary school request
Summary
The Caroline County School Board adopted a FY27–31 CIP totaling $161,984,609 (89 requests) and a FY27 request list totaling about $97.1 million (35 requests), which includes deferred maintenance, ADA upgrades, IAQ work, elevator modernizations and a proposed new elementary school exceeding $40 million.
The Caroline County School Board voted to adopt its FY27–31 capital improvements plan after a second-read presentation and board discussion.
Christopher Caldwell, supervisor of facilities and maintenance, presented updates since the first read and provided totals: 35 FY27 requests totaling $97,125,335 and 89 requests across FY27–31 totaling $161,984,609. Caldwell said the FY27 total reflects deferred maintenance and includes a proposed new elementary school that alone accounts for more than $40 million of the FY27 request. Top priorities were listed as: (1) Caroline Middle School ADA access to sports fields; (2) divisionwide indoor air quality (IAQ) improvements driven by new IAQ testing/recommissioning requirements; (3) Caroline High School elevator modernization; (4) Caroline Middle School elevator modernization; (5) transportation bus replacements (eight buses); and (6–10) divisionwide sidewalk improvements, Madison Elementary ADA upgrades, deferred maintenance items from the 2024 facility assessment, auditorium seating at CMS, and other items.
Board members asked for clarification that elevators are currently ADA compliant but not to the latest standards; Caldwell said modernization work will bring elevators to current code. The presentation showed CIP requests aligned with the division’s Achieve 2027 strategic plan and noted capital outlay figures remained at $365,000.
A motion to adopt the CIP as presented was moved, seconded and approved by roll call. Caldwell said the next step is to upload CIP requests to the county’s spreadsheets for inclusion in the county capital planning process and to present to the Board of Supervisors at a future meeting.
During the meeting staff also reported competitive state school construction grants applied for in the fall (new elementary school, CHS cosmetology CTE improvements, and a middle-school vestibule/safety project) were not awarded; staff attributed the result to VDOE scoring rubrics that reference county-level data (in some cases 2022 figures) and said they will request scoring details and reapply in spring.
