Commission hears local school need update

The Alleghany County Board of Commissioners received an official update on school facilities plans from Superintendent Jeff Cox during a meeting on Nov. 7.

The meeting marked Cox’s first appearance before the commission since assuming the role of superintendent here in October.

Cox discussed two school projects in detail: the bus garage and the expansion to Sparta Elementary. As for the bus garage, Cox noted that the project had low bids of around $500,000, about double the original requested allocation of $250,000.

“As time has gone on, things have gotten more and more expensive,” Cox said. He noted that school officials are working with school architects from Pinnacle Architecture of Matthews to redesign the project as a way to save funds.

“A lot of the expense is in the site preparation work,” he said. Plans to possibly move the building to more level areas, including further up the hill and nearer to the existing garage, or even on the current garage site, have been discussed. However, school officials have opted thus far to try and locate near the existing garage without tearing it down.

On the Sparta School work, Cox said the Alleghany Board of Education will meet on Dec. 7 to discuss bids for that project. “We will see if the $2 million mark is pretty close with this building,” he said. That project involves adding eight new classrooms and a multipurpose room to the Trojan Avenue side of the school.

Cox said another option for that project would be so-called ‘pod’ units, which are similar to a modular home in construction. The units are built off-site and then placed together on a concrete pad, he said. “Some school systems across the state are using this” design option, he said.

Cox said pod units are usually a semi-permanent option, used by school systems with space needs that are expected to last several years. However, with upgrades, the units could be made permanent.

“If we find we can get that building built for a significantly reduced price, it is something we definitely would want to consider,” Cox said. Later in the meeting, he said the pods are constructed in a way so that they can be broken apart and moved later, he said. However, the cost to break them apart is about $40,000 each, he said.

On another note, the county has been requesting a long-range plan from schools, Cox said.

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