Several school upgrade and replacement projects in Hampton Roads are getting a financial boost from the Virginia Department of Education.
More than $37 million is being spread across Suffolk, Virginia Beach, Norfolk and Franklin, part of Virginia’s School Construction Assistance Program. The board of education approved the grants in late August.
The largest portion for the region — $20 million — will help replace Princess Anne High in Virginia Beach. The more than 70-year-old school is the division's oldest; the new Princess Anne is expected to cost hundreds of millions and be complete in 2033.
Another $15 million will help Suffolk pay for an addition at the crowded Northern Shores Elementary and about a fifth of the cost of replacing 50-year-old Elephant’s Fork Elementary by 2029.
The remaining $1.5 million will go toward Norfolk’s Lake Taylor High and Madison Alternative Center, and J.P. King Career and Technical Academy in Franklin City Public Schools.
Virginia created the grant program in 2022, a year after the education department had identified that more than half of schools in the Commonwealth are greater than 50 years old; the median age of school buildings in Hampton Roads was 50.
Replacement costs were estimated in 2021 at $25 billion and will increase as materials and labor increase. The program has awarded more than half a billion since it was created, with $132 million going to 22 districts this year.
The school building needs are also why 47 localities around the state are asking residents to approve a 1% sales tax; locally, that includes Norfolk, Portsmouth, Newport News and York County. Suffolk is considering doing so in 2027.
Opponents in York County, however, are mobilizing against the tax; the county pays among the highest sales taxes in Virginia.
In-person early voting in Virginia continues until Oct. 31. Election day is Nov. 3. Find your polling place online.
Norfolk, Suffolk, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, Newport News, York County and Franklin City Public Schools are members of HRETA, which owns WHRO’s broadcast license.
