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Cabell County Schools reviews $11M in LSIC capital requests and cautions use of reserves
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Summary
District operations staff presented over $11 million in school improvement and capital requests—safety upgrades, HVAC controls, turf, roofing and cameras—while saying most spending would come from reserves; administrators suggested prioritizing safety items (staff proposed $200k–$300k from reserves as a realistic target).
Mr. Baulks, district operations staff, walked the board through LSIC (Local School Improvement Council) capital requests, preliminary estimates and prioritization options for FY27, stressing the preliminary nature of the cost figures and the need to balance safety needs with district reserves.
"What I'm going to do...I'm not really gonna go over everything. I wanna see if you have any questions because there's an enormous amount of things," Baulks said as he introduced three tabbed documents containing LSIC requests, capital improvement projects and the FY26‑27 budget materials.
Staff highlighted several recurring safety and facilities priorities: upgrading aging intercom systems to enable reliable two‑way office‑to‑classroom communication; options for radios or classroom phones; installing privacy slats or taller fences at some urban playgrounds; uniform door locks; and replacing controls for Spring Hill Elementary’s HVAC system, which staff said currently runs on unsupported Windows XP software.
Baulks and other administrators noted that the district has about $11 million in total requests across schools but that the board would not likely fund the entire list from reserves. "When you look at the total of all of those request is little over $11,000,000," an administrator said, and staff later suggested the board consider a more modest target to draw from reserves this year. One presentation slide shown to the board summarized staff thinking around prioritizing safety‑critical items.
Specific capital‑project cost examples given during the session included a perimeter camera solution for Cabell Midland’s student parking lot (an estimated $170,000 because poles and aerial cabling are needed), a large estimate for completing Huntington High’s internal camera project (several million to finish remaining installations), and a Huntington Middle turf replacement that staff included among capital projects. Staff also described an SBA application for a partial roof replacement at Central City Elementary that would require a district match if approved.
Student support and staffing needs were also discussed. Board members asked about additional counselors and social workers at non‑Title I schools; staff cautioned that adding positions funded countywide could be costly and could trigger federal supplanting rules for Title I funds. "It's federal. We can't say it's called supplanting, so we can't spend county funds on what we currently spend federal funds on," one administrator said.
On transportation, staff explained a planned bus‑replacement allocation (~$1,175,000) and presented a trial proposal to buy two 10‑passenger vans to give schools more flexibility for smaller trips, noting that state code limits vans to nine passengers plus a driver.
Staff repeatedly emphasized these figures as preliminary estimates and said there would be more discussion during the budget work session scheduled for May 4 and in the formal budget advertisement that must be published by Friday. No formal capital approvals were made tonight; the board’s next steps are to identify prioritized projects to include in the preliminary budget and consider bids and approvals later in the fiscal year.
At the meeting’s close, a member moved to adjourn, another seconded, members said “aye,” and the work session ended at 5:37 p.m.
