The Suffolk School Board wants the city to speed up replacing and expanding aging and overcrowded buildings.
City leaders, though, say funding is limited as Suffolk is also upgrading major roads to keep up with its growing population.
“You take the school request and try to thread the needle with our transportation request and do as much of those things as possible,” Interim City Manager Kevin Hughes said at a recent joint meeting of the city council and school board.
The city’s proposed capital improvements program update plans to invest about $500 million in school division projects during the next 10 years. About $100 million of that is scheduled in the first five.
The money will be used to replace several schools, starting with the 46-year-old Elephants Fork Elementary School in 2027. A new Kilby Shores Elementary, Nansemond Parkway Elementary, Forest Glen Middle and John Yeates Middle schools would be built after 2031. Additions to Northern Shores Elementary School are underway and expected to finish in 2027, while design work for an addition to Nansemond River High School is scheduled to start in 2029.
The new John F. Kennedy Middle School, paid for under old CIPs, opens next year.
School board members, however, don’t think there’s time to spare. Board Chair Heather Howell of Sleepy Hole Borough told council that Nansemond River is at 118% capacity.
“This is a problem today," she said, "but it’ll be a crisis in a couple years.”
The board in September voted to ask council to pay for a high school addition while building Elephants Fork Elementary and replacing the division’s leased downtown administrative office.
Council is looking at citywide needs, though. In addition to more than $100 million in school upgrades, the city is proposing another almost $100 million on road and highway projects with some grant support and tens of millions on parks and recreation, neighborhood initiatives and other public buildings through the early 2030s.
The city limits new debt to $35 million per year and avoids drawing too much from its sizable reserves to maintain its AAA bond rating, which helps keep interest rates down. Even so, Suffolk plans to spend more than $119 million in reserve funds on capital projects in the next five years.
If Suffolk has more money than expected, Mayor Mike Duman said it would give the city more flexibility to kick in more cash for school projects. But without it, he said, accelerating school construction means cutting other items in the budget.
“When budget time comes, everybody’s going to get a copy,” Duman said. “Make those suggestions, all you’ve got to figure out is what we’ve got to give up and what we’re going to get.”
Another unknown in the school division’s administrative office.
The city’s capital proposal has two options: Spend $7.6 million to refurbish an old Virginia Department of Transportation building that’s been offered to Suffolk as part of a proposed 497-unit Riversbend development by Ryan Homes. The school board doesn't support the idea because of the possible impact on the Hillpoint Elementary School zone.
The division's downtown lease ends in 2028 and costs $500,000 a year. If the city doesn't approve Riversbend it may have to renew the lease at the current location for another five years. A new administrative office is expected to cost $22 million.
Superintendent John Gordon said that Hillpoint Elementary is at 98% capacity and more development could mean buying mobile units for classrooms at a cost of $150,000 apiece.
“If the Riversbend project goes through,” Gordon said, “we have to immediately address Hillpoint.”
New housing, however,doesn’t necessarily equate to massive upticks in student enrollment. Despite Suffolk’s growth, the fastest-growing city in the region since the pandemic, Suffolk Public Schools has seen only a small uptick in enrollment. The division has 14,568 enrolled in the 2024-25 school year. The division reported an enrollment of 14,507 in 2010-11.
But Suffolk's growth and its potential impact on schools is a concern, with multiple already dealing with overcrowding. Councilmember Ebony Wright said the city hasn’t always been conservative in approving new construction, and she's hopeful they can reach a consensus.
“I would like us to see us get to yes on Nansemond River High School,” Wright said. “It’s not going to get any cheaper as time goes on, so we have to be a little more creative in how we get there.”
Councilmember Shelley Butler Barlow raised the possibility of a voter referendum on a 1% education tax to help with school needs, an idea that’s gaining steam in Richmond.
“Does more money always fix everything? No, but it would certainly help,” she said.
Duman said all options need to be considered, even if that means redistricting or school consolidation. He said they’re ideas that can be explored with an updated facilities needs analysis, which hasn’t been done in six years.
"We have to do it with an open mind and look at the options that are presented objectively.”
Suffolk Public Schools is a member of HRETA, which owns WHRO's broadcast license.
