York County School Division outlines progress and delays across multiple capital projects

David Kilburn, associate director of capital plans and projects for the York County School Division, told the board June 8 that work is progressing on several capital projects but that design reviews, permit items and contractor scheduling are delaying some summer starts.

Kilburn said Tab High School remains in active design review: "Tab High School continues. We're working closely with the design reviewers at the county. There's a lot of fine details that we're working on," he said, citing stormwater and power-easement issues that must be resolved before full construction. He said limited preparatory work and isolated in-building progress will occur over the summer.

He reported the parking-lot and bus-loop expansion at Dair Elementary did not begin as hoped. The division is on a second round of county submissions after addressing comments from the first submittal and plans to go out to bid and execute the work next summer to avoid disrupting the start of the school year.

A purchase order has been issued to replace the building automation system at Dar Elementary, Kilburn said, and a pre-construction meeting with the contractor is scheduled this week. The division's internal staff are preparing to coordinate closely with the vendor once work begins.

On athletic and site projects, Kilburn said the turf-field research review for the Grafton complex is complex and that reviewers struggled to find robust studies; Newport News Waterworks is participating and the team asked researchers for more detailed data, with a follow-up meeting set for June 30. "This is a complicated topic and they're having a difficult time finding a lot of research reviews to present to us," Kilburn said.

Kilburn also provided brief status updates on several building projects: the Brton High HVAC replacement is advancing through design with a second site visit scheduled; locker-room renovations planned for Brutin High are being quoted with staff coordinating with athletic directors and principals to limit disruption; and Queens Lake roof replacement is moving into design under an established roof system the division has used elsewhere.

He described Bethl Manor's federal grant process as slow and layered. The division has received guidance webinars and learned steps for the federal application process, which can take months and allow up to eight years to complete in some cases. Kilburn also said Bethl Manor was visited by the federal PSMI (public schools on military installations) review team three weeks ago and that the PSMI assessment report is expected within two to three weeks; that PSMI schedule could overlap the division's grant timeline.

Board members questioned the source of delays. Kilburn attributed the Tab schedule slip primarily to late-stage design changes the division made to optimize instructional function and reduce cost, and he said some slippage across projects reflects the division's need to balance multiple projects against a limited pool of contractors under term or cooperative contracts. "We're hitting them with multiple projects at the same time... then we have to pick and choose and say, 'No, I need you to work on this one this week,'" he said.

Kilburn said the division is attempting to schedule work to avoid the worst disruption to school operations and to drive better bid pricing by consolidating solicitations where possible. He told the board staff will return with additional coordination results and research responses from turf-field researchers.

The board did not take formal action on any capital items at the work session; staff identified follow-up steps and scheduled additional meetings for more detailed updates.