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in five years for an expansion at the elementary school and in 22 years for an expansion at the high school.
For a growth rate of 1.5 percent, planning should start in four years for RCES and 17 for RCHS; for a rate of two percent, in three years and 11 years respectively; for a three percent rate, in two years and seven years; for a four percent rate, in one year and five years; and for a five percent rate, in one year and four years.
“We have time at the high school, but at the elementary school, it’s critical,” Dr. Gangel said. “We’re a very small school division, and any large growth would have a detrimental effect on us rapidly.”
The superintendent reported that new projections just received from the State Department of Education put Rappahannock’s enrollment growth at 1.6 percent annually. Based on building starts, local birth rates, triannual census, and average daily membership records, Dr. Gangel predicted the rate of increase would be 1.5 percent but advised using two percent for planning purposes.
If his figure holds, the four-year project period for an expansion at the elementary school should begin in 1993.
Dr. Gangel’s recommendation for provision, of adequate classroom space: Rappahannock County Middle School for grades six, seven, and eight. With a 350student capacity at a new middle school, the county’s school plants would be sufficient until the year 2015, assuming a two percent growth rate, according to the superintendent.
Site requirements would be from 14 acres (the state’s minimum requirement) to 25 acres (the state’s recommended size). Providing the 120-feet per student recommended by the Department of Education, the middle school would have 42,000 square feet with construction expenses of about $3,360,000 at today’s $80 per square foot price. Taking into account land acquisition, Dr. Gangel estimated the total would run $3,500,000 at current costs.
“Now, there are options to building a new middle school,” he acknowledged. “There’s the possibility we could add a wing on the building here (RCES), but that would bring the enrollment in this school to 1,100. It would certainly be a departure from the character and, I think,
See NEW SCHOOL, p. 16
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