Lynchburg school board and city council members will touch base about city schools’ new chapter — defined by a new leader and new capital improvement funding — at a joint work session Tuesday evening.
The meeting will mark the first time that Superintendent Kristy Somerville-Midgette, who started her role on July 1, gets to plan alongside city council members. The University of Lynchburg and Liberty University alum returned to the Hill City this summer, bringing two decades of experience in public education with her, to take over for interim superintendent Benjamin Copeland.
The meeting also serves as the first joint planning session on the books after the Lynchburg City Council allocated $60 million in capital improvement plan funds to Lynchburg City Schools in June. The investment will be spread over the next three fiscal years and is focused on maintaining and improving current school facilities.
At the school board’s Sept. 2 work session, members unanimously approved a facilities plan that outlines where the $60 million will go. The plan identifies 33 construction and maintenance projects across the school district, including:
- Addressing various mechanical, electrical and plumbing concerns at nine locations;
- Replacing roofs at six locations;
- Expanding gyms at five locations and relaying turf at three locations.
The largest proposed project costs more than $8 million and focuses on deferred mechanical, electrical and plumbing maintenance at R.S. Payne Elementary School, which was built in 1925 and renovated in the 1990s.
In addition to discussing the proposed facility improvements, school board and city council members will address the school system’s strategic planning process.
The schools’ current strategic plan was created to guide the 2022-23 academic year, Somerville-Midgette said at the school board’s Aug. 5 meeting. The plan was extended twice, she said, and then expired on June 30.
While some school districts ask superintendents to lead the strategic planning process, Somerville-Midgette said it’s better to have an outside observer point out Lynchburg City Schools’ strengths and weaknesses.
“It should be an unbiased party that can come in,” she said at the Aug. 5 meeting. “They’re going to work with all of us, get everyone’s vantage points and perspectives, and help to craft a plan from there.”
The school board approved Somerville-Midgette’s request after her presentation, which allows the division to select a contracted planning firm through an open bidding process.
More details of the strategic planning process will be shared at the joint school board and city council work session, which begins at 4 p.m. in the city’s information technology conference center.
Following the joint work session, a regular city council meeting will be held at its normal time and place: 7 p.m. in the council chamber at City Hall.
