For Action by the Richmond City School Board
Presented by: Jason Kamras, Superintendent
Venue: Richmond City School Board Meeting
Date: April 19, 2021
2017 (see screenshot at right). Phase I called for:
o Rezoning much of the Southside to alleviate overcrowding (Completed: 2019 Division-wide Rezoning)
o Constructing a new Greene Elementary School (Completed: Cardinal Elementary School)
o Constructing a new Elkhardt-Thompson Middle School (Completed: River City Middle School) o Constructing a new George Mason Elementary
School (Completed: Henry L. Marsh III Elementary School)
o Constructing a new George Wythe High School o Constructing a new Woodville Elementary School
Recommendation 1
The Administration recommends that the School Board amend the remainder of Phase I to prioritize new construction funding as follows:
o First: Constructing a new George Wythe High School
o Second: Constructing a new standalone career and technical education high school by renovating the old Altria property that the division owns via a foundation (which would replace RTC)
o Third: Constructing a new Woodville Elementary School
Rationale
• Dreams4RPS calls for the development of theme-based high schools. We ultimately hope to have the following themes: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics; Performing, Visual, and Digital Arts; Languages and International Affairs; Law, Public Policy, and Social Justice; and CTE for the 21stCentury. This final theme would be realized through the construction of a new CTE high school built to train students for 21stCentury high- wage, high-demand jobs.
• The Altria site is well-suited for this purpose, and it has garnered significant interest from Reynolds Community College (for co-locating a new CTE campus) and the City of Richmond (for co-locating workforce development
assessment of the current Richmond Technical Center for potential surplus to the City of Richmond if the Board approves the prioritization of a new CTE high school at the Altria site.
Rationale
• If the School Board were to approve the prioritization of a new CTE high school, the RTC campus would no longer be necessary.
• This site would likely yield significant revenue if it were sold by the City. Per Richmond Code, those funds would return to RPS for additional new school construction.
Recommendation 3
The Administration recommends that the Board authorizes an amendment to our current federal stimulus spend plan (or to include it in our spend plan for the Biden stimulus when we formally receive notice of our award) to fund an updated facilities analysis with the following objectives:
• Assess the repair and maintenance needs of all RPS facilities, estimate all related costs, and recommend a prioritized schedule for execution of the work
• Determine the cost of rebuilding all schools over thirty years old and recommend a prioritized schedule for execution of the work
Rationale
• The Division’s current repair/maintenance plan and facilities plan are outdated – both in terms of their content and their cost estimates.
• To effectively manage facility improvements – and to effectively advocate for the dollars needed for this work – the School Board and Administration would be well served by a comprehensive and current assessment of all its facility needs.
Initial Research
In preparing to implement the Board’s April 12 resolution, the Administration has begun researching how neighboring and peer divisions approach new school construction. Below is a synopsis of what we have found thus far.
Chesterfield County Public Schools (CCPS)
• Procurement – CCPS does not manage procurement of its new buildings; Chesterfield County does.
• Construction – CCPS has a Department of Construction that consists of both internal and contracted staff, totaling 16 positions at a cost of approximately $3 million:
o 1 Director of Construction (1) – Salary about $125K per year o 5 Project Managers – Salary about $70K-100K each per year o 10 Contracted Staff – Salary about $250K each per year Henrico County Public Schools
• Procurement – HCPS does not manage procurement of its new buildings; Henrico County does.
• Construction – HCPS has a Director who oversees new school construction, a Project Manager and Site Manager for each new building, and a significant number of contracted staff. We are working to obtain additional details, including salary information.
Norfolk Public Schools
Next Steps on Board Resolution to Oversee New School Construction
Proposed Next Steps
• The Administration needs several weeks to conduct further research about what types of positions (and how many of each) RPS would need to manage the procurement and construction of new schools.
• Note that RPS would need not only facilities positions, but also procurement and finance ones.
• Based on our initial research, we believe we would need well over four positions, as outlined in the Board’s April 12 resolution. A more likely number is 15, at a cost of approximately $3 million annually (salary and benefits).
Additional Timeline Notes
• The City of Richmond was prepared to issue an RFP for the design of a new George Wythe HS next week with a projected completion date of Fall 2024. In compliance with the Board’s resolution, the City of Richmond’s Office of Procurement has stopped its work on the Wythe RFP. As noted above, RPS will need to add positions to its
procurement, finance, and facilities departments to begin this work. Identifying the funds for these roles, writing the position descriptions, securing VDOE approval per our MOU with the State, posting/advertising,
vetting/interviewing, and hiring/onboarding will take 6-9 months. Assuming the new team members are in place by
