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Anyone who’s driven by Prince Edward Elementary recently can see renovations are in full swing. In December, the building and electrical permits were received and now the demolition work is taking place. Members of the Prince Edward School Board received an update on the process during their Wednesday, Jan. 15 meeting. 

Interim Superintendent Dr. Joseph Cox told the board that abatement and demolition of buildings E and F is ongoing. Those are the two oldest buildings at the school. When everything is finished, they’ll be replaced with new construction connecting the remaining buildings, making it much easier to travel between classrooms. He added that Lynchburg-based English Construction is also moving slab and hauling materials. 

“That was an amazing process to watch,” Cox said of the demolition project. 

Over the next two weeks, the plan is for English to finish the demolition work and then begin grading the site. The group is also currently waiting on HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) and plumbing permits. 

Who’s paying the bills?

As mentioned, English Construction is in charge of the project. Their bid came in at $38,097,500. That’s going to be paid for using three pots of money. First, Prince Edward County received a $8.655 million grant from the Virginia Capital Projects Fund. Second, the county applied for and got a loan through the Virginia Literary Loan Fund. That was $25 million, to be paid back over a 20-year period at a rate of 3% interest. The remaining portion will be paid through bonds issued by the Virginia Public School Authority (VPSA). That’ll be paid back over a 25-year period, at a 4% interest rate.

So when all is said and done, including interest, Prince Edward will pay $61.358 million to cover the cost of the project. There’s still the potential Prince Edward could end up paying less, due to sales tax changes. 

Last year, a bill which would have allowed residents to vote on a sales tax increase passed the Assembly, but was vetoed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, as he said he had promised not to increase taxes. It looks like a new version of the sales tax bill will likely make it out of the Virginia Senate this week. SB1307, filed by Sen. Jeremy McPike from Prince William County, was approved by the Virginia Senate Finance Committee last Wednesday, then made it through two readings in the full Senate with unanimous support. The final reading and vote in the Senate is expected this week, after which it would go to the Virginia House for a vote. 

There are a few changes in this year’s version of the statewide bill, as Sen. Creigh Deeds, a member of the Virginia Senate Finance Committee, explains. SB1307 would allow counties to let residents vote on if they would support a 1% sales tax increase, with the money being set aside for school construction. 

“We put some guardrails on the process to ensure the money raised is only used for new construction,” Deeds said. “(And we) set an expiration date of 20 years after the project is undertaken and the debt is paid.” 

So if this bill is approved in its current form, let’s say Prince Edward residents vote to increase the sales tax. Then that would mean the increase could only stay in place for a maximum of 20 years. We’ll give updates if the vote goes through and the bill moves to the House. 

What changes for Prince Edward families?

But back to school construction in Prince Edward. So for any parents wondering, even now that construction has started at the elementary school, most things will stay the same this school year. For the rest of this school year, you’ll still be dropping off and picking up your student in the same place as you do now at the school. 

Parents also won’t be losing any parking spaces to construction right now. Current plans have all of that set to start changing this summer, coinciding with the completion of the new main front door and library. The school’s front entrance should be relocated by July 2025, getting traffic off Eagle Drive and creating a loop that makes both drop-off and pick-up easier for parents, students and staff.

The construction work is expected to take a bit more than three years, stretching from Oct. 2024 to March 2027.