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The time is quickly approaching to begin renovations to the Rockbridge Innovation Center – formally known as Floyd S. Kay Vocational Center.
While the original timeline had construction beginning on July 12 and concluding in August 2024, Superintendent Phillip Thompson expects delays in this timeframe.
“Lots of conversations have happened over the last couple of weeks,” Thompson told the Rockbridge County School Board at its meeting April 11. “With respect to having such a short timeline, Mr. Grant from Spectrum Design was very adamant that the timeline we have is doable and it’s reasonable, but he was also very quick to saying that adding another three or four months to the end of the timeline potentially could bring other construction candidates – bidders – to the table, which could also increase competition, potentially lower costs, and honestly giving another three or four months hopefully will provide us with a little bit of a better product in that they’re not under as quite of a crunch that they would be in that one year timeline.”
Because the latest cost estimates came in higher than anticipated, the Board of Supervisors recently opted to not move forward with participating in the Virginia Resource Authority’s spring pool to finance the project but instead seek funding through the VRA’s fall pool.
The Rockbridge Innovation Center is now expected to open to its CTE students in December 2024.
As teachers and students were expecting a completed Career and Technical Education building with the onset of the 2024-2025 school year, Thompson and some Board members worry about how the delay in its opening may affect the quality of instruction.
However, after working through the uncertainty caused by Covid, Thompson believes that his staff can endure just about anything that comes their way.
“If something positive came out of Covid, it would [be flexibility] and learning how to teach under odd circumstances and strange circumstances,” he said. “Thankfully, we’re not dealing with Covid, but we are dealing with some odd, extraneous circumstances in respect to trying to teach effectively.”
Thompson continued, “It’s the short-term pain for the long-term gain. It’s going to be a couple more months of pain we have to deal with before we get in there.”
Vice Chair Kathy Burant agreed with the superintendent. “My first question is ‘are we going to be able to handle that with our students for another half a year? How will that impact enrollment? How will that impact?’” she said. “But, knowing our staff and knowing the people that are the drivers and the movers in our classrooms, I feel very strongly that we can make it through.”
