The upcoming school year for students in Patrick County schools is set to begin on Thursday, August 8, and Schools Superintendent Jason Wood said returning students are likely to notice the completion of several projects that will benefit them.
“For example, at the high school an entire hallway of lockers was removed to allow for bench seating outside of the cafeteria at Patrick County High School (PCHS), which will be a benefit for students to be able to spread out during lunch,” he said.
Because there are only three lunch times at Patrick County High School (PCHS), Wood said the cafeteria can become crowded.
“Now after students eat, the high school’s going to try seniors and then maybe juniors and see if those two classes are going to make the inside of the cafeteria much more manageable and easier to supervise when they leave,” he said.
Wood said a large gazebo was also constructed in the PCHS courtyard to allow seniors to eat outside. Previously, “they didn’t have enough space, so they had to sit on the steps. Now, they can go outside.”
When lunch periods aren’t underway, “classes can go outside and have an outdoor learning environment that’s also secured that is enclosed by the entire building,” he said.
Wood said the space will be open to any teacher who wants to reserve it, and noted he can see any class utilizing it during the year.
“We have new picnic tables, and we actually bought those locally from” Frontier Farm and Home Center, LLC “in Meadows of Dan,” Wood said, and added the PCHS horticulture class will maintain the area.
A small outdoor area was also installed in early fall of last year for the school’s handicapped students.
“Wheelchair-acceptable swings, and the students actually maintain their little garden. It’s nice, the wheelchair students come out and use these,” he said.
There are also new lights outside at the football stadium. Wood said this completed project will allow the PCHS marching band to practice on the field under the lights at night.
“Typically, they practice on Monday evenings, and when the days start getting shorter it’s difficult for them to get the number of hours to practice that they would like,” he said.
Locker room renovations at PCHS also were completed and new restrooms, functional shower areas, and Americans with Disability Act (ADA) bathrooms and showers were installed.
“It is really exciting to get us up to Title IX compliant locker rooms, restrooms, and space for our male and female students. With our special needs population, there are a number of times a special needs student needed to take a shower, and we didn’t have the capabilities for that. We didn’t have any complaints, but we knew there was an issue that we needed to address,” Wood said, adding the division received the certificate of occupancy over the summer.
The culinary arts classrooms at PCHS also were remodeled and now includes stainless commercial kitchen equipment instead of the 1970s home ovens and countertops students previously used, Wood said.
“Before, even though we had a normal kitchen, you couldn’t do any cooktop frying plus the vapors because we didn’t have a hood. The biggest expense was a hood in this classroom and the next one,” he said.
Wood said improvements will help the students who need experience in a commercial kitchen rather than “the traditional, 1970s home economics class with just a normal oven where all you could really do is heat something up,” he said.
Other projects include the remodeling of the concession stands, press box, restrooms, light poles, and the creation of locker rooms at the PCHS football stadium.
Wood said the maintenance staff took the project on themselves by getting prices to contract out for the remodeling.
“It saved the division a lot of money, and remodeled the concession stands – home and away – and restrooms, and added a locker room at the high school stadium,” he said.
When the light poles were taken down and replaced due to safety issues, Wood said one of them broke, “so, we had to replace those.”
Wood said the school division also finished the restroom renovations at every school.
“Patrick Springs still had a few that needed the floors refinished. They had new fixtures and partitions in the hall, but that was the one to be finished,” he said.
Wood noted PCHS was the first school to have its restrooms renovated. That project started a year before the COVID-19 pandemic, “so, then when we got the pandemic relief funds, we made sure we got every restroom,” he said.
Wood said there were also several remodeling improvements at Patrick Springs Primary School (PSPS).
“The front office was remodeled, carpet was removed, and new flooring put down. It’s just really focusing on a warmer, more inviting environment at our schools,” he said.
At the school board office, Wood said the classroom and marketplace are now complete.
“We’re excited that either the tourism class or culinary arts classes will be able to market the food that they prepare and sell it to the community a few days a week,” he said. Wood said a Request for Proposals (RFP) will be advertised this month for renovations to Blue Ridge Elementary School.
“It will renovate the gymnasium there, make the stage accessible, which we meet code right now, but the steps are too short. I mean, I’d hit my head try to get on the stage, so they don’t use it,” he said.
Wood said there’s also a single-use men’s and women’s restroom in the Blue Ridge gymnasium.
“Imagine you have a PE class there, they have to go one at a time. Or if you’re at a ballgame, one at a time. There are no locker rooms there, and it will be a covered awning from the school to the gym because of the distance they have to walk outside to the gym in the rain or in the snow,” he said.
Wood said improvements to the Career & Technical Education (CTE) classrooms, locker room renovations, and restroom renovations were grant funded.
“We are very fortunate that we were able to utilize grant funds, and very little local dollars for our renovations,” he said.
Wood added the locker room project and light pole replacements also used funds generated from the one percent sales tax, while the gazebo project used local funds.
“We’re partnering with the senior class for the benches out front. Some past graduating classes are sponsoring little sections out there, so there’ll be a plaque like, ‘Sponsored by Class of 2011’ or whatever the years will be,” he said.
Wood said the improvements were needed to improve the schools and their safety for students.
While a lot of the work may not be noticed right away, Wood said as students and community members are introduced to and able to use the completed, new offerings, “they’ll actually see all the hard work our staff put into getting schools up to date, more welcoming, and ready for school this year.”
