CHATHAM — Pittsylvania County Supervisors are questioning School Board officials about spending approximately $1 million to construct storage buildings at the county’s four high schools.
Spending $1 million for storage buildings is outrageous, said Dan River Supervisor James Snead, during a meeting of the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors School Liaison Committee on Monday evening.
The School Liaison Committee is made up of members of the Board of Supervisors and the Pittsylvania County School Board.
“I have a problem with storage buildings at all four high schools,” said Callands-Gretna Supervisor Fred Ingram, who asked school board officials if it could be done cheaper.
Pittsylvania County School Superintendent James McDaniel said the buildings would be constructed to match the décor of the four high schools. In addition, the storage facility to be built at Chatham High School would cost more to construct because it would also contain electrical panels for revamped athletic fields.
School officials also hope supervisors will give the schools up to $600,000 in unspent high school construction bond money — which would have paid for architect fees, sewage, moving, furniture and other items — to help pay for construction of the new storage buildings and revamp the athletic fields at Chatham High School.
The changes would cost about $2.7 million for the county’s four high schools — Tunstall, Chatham, Dan River and Gretna. The Pittsylvania County School Division so far has about $1.6 million that it could spend for the project, McDaniel said.
The School Board wants supervisors to approve the project as a change order to the existing high-school renovation project.
The Board of Supervisors already gave the school system $600,000 in interest money earlier this year earned from $70 million borrowed to renovate the high schools.
McDaniel had asked supervisors earlier this year for the $5.7 million left over from the high school renovations to help pay for other projects at the high schools, and for $1.2 million in bond interest money to help pay for instructional programs and preserve jobs.
The county agreed to give the school division half of the bond interest money. The interest was earned on the bond money while it was in the bank.
McDaniel said the money would not cover the full project, but school officials would be able to do as much of the project as they can with the School Board’s money and that from the county.
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