Charlotte Co. Weighs Options for New Elementary Schools

The Charlotte County School Board held a public meeting on Tuesday evening to reveal options for how to deal with the three aging elementary schools currently operating within the county. A power point presentation shown in the Randolph- Henry auditorium detailed the timeline leading up to the Dewberry Facilities study, the three options it decided were the best considerations and finally, the recommendation of the study to the school board.

Two of the options entail a combination of renovations and new construction at Phenix, Eureka and Bacon Elementary schools. The final option considers the closing of all three existing schools and the construction of a single 950-student facility. The age of the existing schools along with the financial considerations of renovations and additions to existing structures make the construction of a new, larger school the best option for Charlotte County, according to the study. Option one, (one new 950-student school) is estimated to be between $2.1 and $2.3 million less expensive than the other two options.

Option two is to close both the Bacon and Phenix facilities and perform extensive renovations to Eureka, along with building substantial additions to accommodate the added students.

Option three entailed performing extensive renovations and additions to all three schools, the most costly option in the study.

While the meeting on Tuesday evening was open to the public, there was no time set aside for public participation. However, there will be public meetings scheduled for February at each school for questions, answers and public comments. Those meetings will be as follows: Monday, February 2, at 7:00 p.m. at Bacon District, Monday, February 9 at 7:00 p.m. at Phenix Elementary, and Monday February23 at 7:00 p.m. at Eureka. Additionally, the school board meetings on January 13th, February 10th and March 10th will be open to public comment. March 10th is also set as a preliminary date for the school board to vote on pursuing financial funding for the project.

The Dewberry Study is available to the public for review at http://www.ccpsk12.org/. A hard copy of the facilities study will be available in the main office of each elementary school as well as in the Charlotte County School Board office, 250  LeGrande Avenue, suite E,  Charlotte Court House, for those that do not have Internet access.