The Southampton County School Board voted to approve a resolution formally communicating to the County Board of Supervisors the school division’s need to replace two aging buildings: Capern Elementary School and Southampton Middle School. The vote follows an architect’s assessment that both facilities have building systems (HVAC, lighting, plumbing) and classroom spaces that are beyond their useful life and that current modular classrooms and site constraints create program and security challenges.

Architect Josh told the board that Capern (built in the 1950s) lacks a gymnasium and relies on multiple modular classrooms; he said the site is tight but "it is possible to construct a new school on the existing site while the current one is operational." He offered ballpark cost ranges: about $15.5 million to $18.5 million for a roughly 40,000-square-foot elementary replacement and roughly $34 million to $38 million for an 85,000-square-foot middle school replacement, not including land purchase or utility extensions. On schedule, Josh estimated 12–14 months for design and 16–22 months for construction, noting an overall multi-year process including programming, permits and bidding.

Board members emphasized that while the school board identifies facility needs, the fiscal responsibility for capital projects rests with the county Board of Supervisors. The resolution is intended to formally notify the supervisors that the division has buildings 60–70 years old and seeks capital support. The motion to approve the resolution was made by Miss Hobbs, seconded by Miss Lane, and approved by voice vote.

Board discussion also noted potential renovation vs. replacement trade-offs; the architect said that in some recent projects the cost of a full renovation approached the cost of a replacement while taking substantially longer to complete.

Next steps for the board include communicating the resolution to the Board of Supervisors and pursuing site studies and programming to refine cost and schedule estimates.