New school is still a good, necessary project

By By Jeff Poole Review Managing Editor
Published: January 08, 2009

Tuesday night, the Orange County Board of Supervisors endorsed construction of a new middle school in the county’s eastern end.
Not without some dissent, though.
In a 3-2 vote, a majority of the board reiterated their support for construction of a new middle school–even with a price tag north of $30 million and the uncertainty of the current economy.
With bids in hand, the school board met with the board of supervisors in a joint meeting Tuesday for direction on this critical project. After all, the supervisors control the county cash flow.
In late 2006, supervisors voted unanimously to support construction of a 1,200-student middle school in the county’s eastern end.
By the following spring, a suitable site had been found which was near the existing Locust Grove schools, close to Lake of the Woods and Route 3, had access to water and sewer and was a large enough tract to allow for additional school or county facilities.
Ultimately, a new 1,200-student middle school will allow the county to convert Locust Grove Elementary School into a primary school (K-2) and the current Locust Grove Middle School into an elementary school (3-5).
We thought the new middle school was a good idea two years ago and we still do.
We need space. We need solutions. We need them now.
We’re a year and a half into this project. We’ve done the requisite architectural and engineering studies, drafted plans, begun clearing land and put the project to bid.
Project detractors suggest the county would be better served by constructing a new elementary school instead. They argue that’s where the need is and the costs are less expensive.
We disagree. Backtracking to construct an elementary school would only further delay resolving our east Orange County student space crisis.
Bids are lower than expected, which makes the project more reasonable in a tight economy. We caught a break. Let’s take advantage of it.