Christiansburg High School renovation enters final six months as board confronts multi‑million dollar shortfall

Contractor and project representatives told the Montgomery County School Board on Feb. 3 that the Christiansburg High School (CHS) renovation is moving into its final six months but has encountered accumulating change orders and cost increases that produced a headline figure — roughly $4 million to $4.5 million — reported in local media.

Josh Bower, a consultant involved in the project, told the board the long‑running renovation (original design work began in 2020) is approaching its July 31, 2026, contract end date. He described the remaining work as focused on career‑technical spaces (CTE), labs and finishing work, but he also outlined a string of unanticipated costs tied to sanitary and hazardous‑materials remediation and unforeseen site and soil conditions.

"We are now into the last six months of the CHS project," Bower said, describing the sequence of change orders that accumulated once crews worked in the older portions of the building. He said the addition was completed earlier and most of the recent change orders emerged when the project team began renovating existing facilities.

Angie Bland, director of finance, told the board there is an interest‑bearing bond account associated with the CHS project and said, "there is approximately eight and a half million dollars … sitting in that account"; she said the transfer the board and the county supervisors recently approved used "just over $5 million," which leaves roughly $3.5 million still available in that account to address outstanding change orders and contingencies.

Board members pressed administration and the project team for clearer, earlier notification of the accumulating costs. "It would have been nice when it came out in the paper … to be able to answer it, you know, with a reason even if we have the money to cover it," one board member said, voicing frustration that much of the public learned of the increase through news coverage rather than periodic internal updates.

Administrators acknowledged an imperfect communication cadence and pledged to provide weekly project progress updates and immediate notice of any additional cost risks for the remaining six months of the project. The superintendent and project leaders said they are also considering further cost‑mitigating steps: value engineering of optional items, reviewing furniture and equipment specifications, and continuing biweekly owner‑architect‑contractor (OAC) coordination meetings.

Background and fiscal context

Board materials and staff comments placed the CHS renovation as a multi‑year, multimillion‑dollar capital project: bond funds originally funded most of the work, with the division securing additional local or grant support to limit direct taxpayer impact. Administrators said rising global costs for furniture, technology and some IT equipment (which in places doubled in price) and a series of necessary change orders produced the present request for additional contingency funding.

What happens next

Officials said they believe the recently approved transfer and remaining bond interest will cover the current outstanding items, though they cautioned that construction projects always carry residual risk and that project leaders will continue to pursue cost reductions where feasible. The board directed staff to provide an itemized list of change orders since May 1, 2025, and to deliver weekly status updates until project closeout.

This account is based on the project presentation and ensuing board discussion at the Feb. 3, 2026 Montgomery County School Board meeting. The board did not take a separate new vote at this meeting to authorize additional borrowing; administrators said the board and county supervisors had already approved a transfer of just over $5 million prior to this meeting.