Henry County school officials plan to spend the 2024-2025 fiscal year spearheading more than $20 million in capital improvements, including a project that has taken years to complete.
Members of the Henry County School Board hashed out their capital improvement plan as part of their budgeting process. On Tuesday, county supervisors approved the proposed $20.4 million in project costs.
Since 2021, Henry County has levied a 1% sales tax to help fund school infrastructure projects. In the upcoming fiscal year, Henry County Public Schools plans to spend $11.7 million of the $13 million sales tax fund, with the remainder coming from grants and the division’s budget.
“You can see this $13 million goes away very quickly,” assistant superintendent of operations Ben Boone said.
The most expensive of the projects covered by the 1% sales tax is the final phase of a heating, ventilation and air conditioning project at Bassett High School that has taken seven years to complete, a year longer than originally planned.
Coming in at a cost of $4.5 million, the Bassett project will replace the school’s previous HVAC system that was installed in 1978.
According to a number of school board and school division officials, the project predates their respective tenures.
“I’m glad we’re taking the bull by the horn and addressing what we need to do,” Vice Chair Ben Gravely said.
Teddy Martin agreed, saying he joined the board around the time the project started.
School officials began the Bassett HVAC project in 2018 and planned to break up the project into phases. This portion of the project entails upgrades to the lighting and ceilings, specifically new acoustic tile ceilings in parts of the building.
The project is now in its seventh phase, and officials said they are confident that the upcoming fiscal year will be the last for the ongoing project.
“This will complete our original plan for the facility,” Boone said.
County supervisors awarded the contract to Blair Construction in Gretna. Officials hope to have the project completed by fall.
Elevator installation at Campbell Court Elementary, Drewry Mason Elementary and G.W. Carver Elementary will also come from the 1% sales tax, at a price of $3.2 million. A pair of fieldhouses scheduled for Bassett and Magna Vista high schools will take $4 million from the fund.
Around $1.8 million will be left over in the sales tax fund, which replenishes by $5 million annually.
All elementary schools also will receive new playground equipment at a cost of $1.2 million. The equipment, according to Blake-Lewis, is more inclusive and accessible than current equipment.
Funds for the equipment will come via the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, or ESSER, program, federal grant funding meant to bridge academic gaps caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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