Rockingham County Schools told the Rockingham County Board and its own Board of Education that the district had been awarded a $42,000,000 needs-based school construction grant from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction for a new Reidsville Elementary School.

Superintendent Dr. John Stover and district staff described the grant as the maximum award for an elementary-school project; district staff and county commissioners confirmed the county would provide a 5% local match ($2,100,000), bringing the project total discussed in meeting remarks to $44,100,000. The district said the current Moss Street site would be repurposed as a pre-K and alternative-school site as part of the broader reorganization.

Attorney Brandon McPherson and the facilities committee presented procurement options and recommended a design–build delivery approach with an owner’s representative/project manager. McPherson described two viable delivery options (design–build or design with a construction manager at risk) and recommended design–build on speed and constructability grounds; he and the facilities committee also recommended contracting a separate project manager to act as the district’s owner’s representative. McPherson said having an owner’s rep and early construction collaboration typically reduces costly change orders and speeds delivery.

Board members asked about fees and timeline. McPherson said a full project-management engagement is likely to cost between about $200,000 and $400,000 over the life of the project. The board approved a motion directing district administration to issue an RFQ for project-management services and an RFQ for design–build services consistent with the timeline in the packet. The RFQ schedule the board discussed included questions due Dec. 16, pre-bid (optional) and an on-site meeting 01/07/2026, mandatory RFQ responses due 02/05/2026, shortlisted interviews in March, and notification of intent to award by March 24.

Motion and vote: the board moved and seconded a resolution to issue the RFQ for project management and the RFQ for design–build services as described in the packet; the motion passed by voice vote (the transcript records an "Aye" and that the motion carried). The meeting record does not include a detailed breakdown of scoring criteria beyond the packet materials discussed in the facilities session.

What comes next: the district will post RFQs publicly, hold the optional pre-bid meeting on Jan. 7, accept hard-copy RFQ submissions by Feb. 5 and proceed with shortlisted interviews and award notifications in March, per the timeline presented. District staff said they will return with recommended contracts and additional budget details once the procurement and selection process advances.