PWCS plan emphasizes renovations, LED, solar and proposed robotics centers if 14th high school is discontinued
Summary
In the CIP work session, staff outlined renovations and maintenance projects included in both scenarios — HVAC and roof replacements, playground and turf projects, a $22M increase for Marstellar Middle School geothermal work — and said Scenario B would add two robotics centers and increase sustainability investments such as geothermal, LED and building automation upgrades.
Prince William County Public Schools staff used the Jan. 14 CIP work session to summarize a multi‑year slate of renovation, maintenance and sustainability projects that appear in both proposed scenarios and to describe additional projects that would be added if the board discontinues the 14th high school.
Dave Beavers, speaking for the budget office, listed additions and funding changes: $22 million added to the Marstellar Middle School addition and HVAC replacement to support geothermal, increased funding requests for Woodbridge Middle School and Brentsville District High School renovations, and the inclusion of Hampton Middle School for a full renovation scheduled for completion in 2032 at a reported total cost of $85 million. Pennington Traditional School’s 10‑classroom addition was flagged as delayed by one year because of permitting differences with the City of Manassas.
Justin Moss, director of facilities, reviewed facility‑level projects planned in FY27: LED upgrades targeted to 22 schools, outdoor learning environments at roughly 28 schools, 41 retro‑commissioning projects to tune building automation and HVAC, and solar photovoltaic installations at six schools. "Any type of renewable energy projects... that's something that we will assess at every major project as part of the Virginia High Performance Buildings Act," Justin Moss said.
Staff described lifecycle and maintenance work including roof replacements, major interior upgrades, playground replacements using ADA‑compliant engineered surfacing rather than mulch, and replacement of high‑school practice turf fields prioritized by life‑cycle needs. Beavers also explained a cooperative funding arrangement for seven middle‑school turf fields that were originally funded by Prince William County; under the agreement PWCS will pay half the replacement cost, effectively funding 3.5 fields.
Under Scenario B — the option that discontinues the 14th high school — staff proposed adding two robotics centers (an east center proposed for Garfield High School and a west center proposed for Unity Reed High School) as school‑based additions designed to serve competitions and be available to other schools. Scenario B also included additional geothermal and centralized building automation work across roughly 25 schools and extended LED upgrades.
Board members asked about equitable distribution of practice‑field replacements, timelines for specific projects in their districts, and whether facilities staff would engage school‑level champions when designing outdoor learning spaces. Staff responded that they would provide more precise scheduling information and would incorporate school‑based expertise during design and implementation.
The board did not vote on project additions at the work session; staff said the projects and timing will be reviewed again during the February budget process and public hearings.
