Prince William board weighs $256 million CIP gap and $1.1 billion in bonds tied to proposed 14th high school
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Summary
School staff presented two capital-improvement scenarios: Scenario A adds a proposed 14th high school and raises the CIP cost by about $256 million and could require roughly $1.1 billion in bond sales; several board members said enrollment projections and debt-service impacts make the project imprudent now.
Chair opened a board discussion of the capital improvement plan and asked staff to summarize two options under consideration: Scenario A, which includes construction of a proposed 14th high school, and Scenario B, which would remove that school and fund other projects instead. "Scenario A contains the construction of the fourteenth high school," facilities staff said; the presentation highlighted an approximate $256,000,000 net increase in total CIP cost if the board selects Scenario A.
CFO Shaquille Youssef warned the board that choosing Scenario A would drive substantial additional borrowing. "If we go with Scenario A, we look to sell approximately $1,100,000,000 in bond sales," Youssef said, and staff projected about an $80,000,000 increase in debt service over the next five years under that option. Youssef also explained the county sets debt ceilings that combine county and school borrowing and said pushing toward those ceilings would affect county planning.
Board members pressed staff about enrollment projections and vacant seats. Facilities staff said the division would still have roughly 2,400–2,500 open secondary seats without building the new high school and roughly 3,500 vacant seats if the 14th high school is constructed. "That's roughly a high school and a half based on the size of our current high schools," staff stated.
Several board members urged caution. "Given the numbers and the enrollment projections, it almost seems the opposite would be true — one would have to close a school before building another," said board member Justin Wilk. Board member Blake said the data shows a growing surplus of seats divisionwide and argued the division should prioritize redistricting, transfer patterns, and targeted investments rather than immediate construction of another high school. Erica Trudenick added the board should avoid cannibalizing existing high schools and focus on solutions that benefit more students.
Superintendent Dr. McDade said the board will vote on Scenario A or B at its Feb. 4 meeting and encouraged public review of the materials. "We will be voting on Scenario A or B at the Feb. the first meeting in February," Dr. McDade said; the board also said the CIP work session recording is posted online for public review. The chair and staff emphasized the decision will feed into the FY27 budget process and asked members of the public to comment prior to the vote.
The board did not take a final CIP vote during this meeting; the next procedural step is the scheduled Feb. 4 meeting when members will choose between Scenario A and Scenario B.