Campbell County is moving forward with plans to support major renovations to Brookville High School, approving a project budget that came in $10 million higher than initially estimated in June.
Campbell County Administrator Frank Rogers said Tuesday, the Campbell County local government set up a financial plan in December 2019 to help out the county public school system with capital projects, using county meal tax revenues. This plan includes supporting major capital projects, to be initiated every two years. The first was the Rustburg Middle School project; the second was renovations to Brookville High School.
The Campbell County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the pursuit of major renovations on Brookville High School last June. At that time, the estimated budget for the entire project was $40 million, although due to factors that include increased construction, materials and labor costs, the number was subject to increase.
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Supervisors and the county school board held a joint public hearing Tuesday to approve a more finalized renovation budget amount and authorize the submission of a loan application that could pay for up to half of the project.
The higher renovation budget estimate was presented at the public hearing, where the school board requested the board of supervisors to approve borrowing up to that full amount.
Supervisors unanimously approved the $50 million budget, and the school board followed suit in a separate vote.
No details on the Brookville renovations are currently available. A request for proposals (RFP) has not yet been sent out, according to Rogers, so until the RFP is issued, and proposals start coming in, there are no further details to be had.
Campbell County is responsible for paying off any debt service incurred on borrowed money used for the public schools’ capital projects, Rogers said.
Rogers said the county meal tax revenues go largely toward funding these major capital projects in the locality’s public schools.
One place the county will seek a loan for the Brookville High School renovations is through the Literary Fund of Virginia program. According to the Virginia Department of Education’s website about the program, it provides low-interest loans for school construction.
Both the board of supervisors and the school board unanimously approved resolutions authorizing the submission of an application for a Literary Fund loan up to $25 million.
Whether Campbell County schools were awarded any of this grant money, or how much they were awarded, remains unknown. The application deadline is in February.
Here’s another resolution to add to your list for 2023 – get into the garden!.
