Board takes up a bigger building programme and a new way of hiring builders

What happened

On June 16, 2026 the School Board put a 'Resolution: Construction Manager at Risk' on its consent agenda as an action item. Construction Manager at Risk means the division brings a builder in early, alongside the architect, under a price cap the builder agrees to hold. In February 2026 its Finance and Facilities Committee reviewed progress on $10 million of renovation funds and discussed planned projects for $30 million of capital funding for 2026-27, plus a request to City Council to move $3 million of 2025-26 money. The division's own capital plan for 2026-2030 lists roof replacements, HVAC and electrical work, elementary gym additions, playground modernisation, a chiller replacement at Dunbar Middle and a renovation and addition at Sandusky Elementary School.

Why it matters to families

The City of Lynchburg owns the school buildings and pays for them, so this money is separate from the money that pays teachers. A jump from $10 million to a planned $30 million is the difference between patching buildings and rebuilding parts of them, and it decides whether a leaking roof or a broken chiller gets fixed this year or in five years. The published board record gives item titles and figures as the committee described them, not signed contracts or final project lists.

The evidence

The board's meeting index lists 'Resolution: Construction Manager at Risk - Mr. Travis Marshall' as a consent agenda action item on June 16, 2026, and at the Feb. 10, 2026 Finance and Facilities Committee meeting 'Update of YTD progress of capital 10m renovation funds and discussion of planned projects for the 30 m capital funding for 26/27' and 'Update on request to City Council on 3M reallocation request for 25/26 funds'. The project list comes from the FY 2026 capital improvement projects table in the division's own adopted FY 2026 budget document.

The source