Students in some Williamsburg-James City County schools returned to classes Monday in improved buildings thanks to a summer of construction projects throughout the district.
Upgrades and improvements at Jamestown High, Lafayette High, Berkeley Middle and Rawls Byrd Elementary were under construction throughout the summer, and each of the projects had reached substantial completion — meaning they can be used for their intended purposes.
Facilities management coordinator Alan Robertson said the district had a “punch list” of minor work that still needs to be done, but it would not interfere with normal school business.
Robertson said final completion on those summer projects should be done around the end of September.
One of the major projects this year was the Phase I refurbishment of Jamestown High. The district schedules buildings to its annual refurbishing list based on factors that include age, wear and repairs needed. The refurbishing process typically involves repainting, the installation of new carpet and tile and HVAC upgrades, and occurs in several phases, with work being done over the summer break and during the school year.
The school’s locker rooms underwent full renovations, including the installation of new flooring and fixtures, and new bleachers were installed in the gymnasium. The total construction cost of the Phase I projects was $444,073.
The district undertook an expansion project at Berkeley Middle. The school’s cafeteria was expanded by 1,550 square feet to accommodate an additional 84 seats. Robertson said increasing the cafeteria capacity would reduce the number of lunch periods the school would have to schedule.
“The longer you run lunch period, the more time you’re taking away from academics,” he said.
Robertson said the cafeteria expansion did not increase the size of the building, as two classrooms were incorporated into the larger design. To accommodate the displaced students, Robertson said the district had installed a trailer as a temporary mobile classroom. The total cost of construction was $171,902.
Rawls Byrd Elementary also had additional construction done to it over the summer. The school’s “open campus” was enclosed with a 6-foot-tall brick and wrought iron fence. Built in the 1960s, Rawls Byrd consists of four separate “pods” — for pre-school through fifth grade, special education, and reading recovery — behind a main building. The pods are connected by walkways, but they had not been enclosed.
Robertson said the district had instituted practices to maintain student safety on the open campus before building the fence. Previously, staff members would watch students as they left one pod and arrived at another. With the fence, Robertson said student safety would be maintained while allowing teachers to focus on classroom activities. Construction of the wall cost $149,300.
The school also received HVAC upgrades to the gymnasium, at a cost of $130,800.
Two projects went on at Lafayette High over the summer. The first replaced HVAC equipment for the school’s upper commons, which contains the cafeteria and gymnasium. That work completed heating and cooling upgrades initiated last year. Work was done last summer to replace HVAC equipment for the lower commons, which contains the media center, science labs and other classroom space. The total construction costs of the HVAC projects was $3,872,986.
The school’s practice athletic field was also refurbished. Robertson said the field showed signs of wear from years of use. The refurbishment fixed the irrigation system, and reoriented and repaired the fields.
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