Board member says local families were shut out of Reidsville Elementary design‑build process as consultant backs Vannoy Construction

A board member at the Rockingham County Board of Education meeting delivered a lengthy critique of the procurement process for the new Reidsville Elementary School, arguing that multi‑generational local families and an employee‑owned company had been excluded from opportunities to participate in the design‑build process.

The board member said the exclusion harmed community trust, arguing those families have “skin in the game” and noting their long history of volunteerism and local investment. “An employee owned company has been shut out of the design build process for the new Reidsville Elementary School,” the board member said, while also asserting that the board had consulted counsel and that no laws had been broken.

The concern came while the board was also hearing a presentation from a consultant working on the Reidsville project. A representative speaking on behalf of McDonald, Bowyer and Peck presented a scoring matrix and recommended Vannoy Construction as the preferred design‑build team, saying small point differences separated the finalists and that the recommended team’s experience and local familiarity would likely yield a better outcome. “MBP respectfully submits a recommendation of Vannoy Construction,” the consultant said.

Board members asked questions after the presentation about timing, reuse of mobile classrooms and whether delaying a contractor selection by a few weeks would affect the planned schedule. The consultant said a short delay likely would not jeopardize the target schedule and reiterated the value of early preconstruction collaboration to control costs and unexpected problems.

The consultant also offered to review several existing mobile units for potential reuse at other sites and noted condition concerns tied to prior coastal exposure on some units.

Why it matters: the choice of a design‑build team and the procurement process are central to project cost, timeline and opportunities for local contractors. Board members asked for additional review time, and the presenter identified the item as a report with the option to move to a vote at a later meeting.

What’s next: the presentation was given as a report and the board did not take a final vote at this meeting. Board members discussed taking the consultant’s recommendation into further consideration and confirmed they could vote on the contract at a subsequent meeting.

Provenance: This article is based on the board member’s comments about Reidsville Elementary and the consultant presentation (topicintro SEG 358, topfinish SEG 1004).