Table of Contents
GREENSBORO — Guilford County school board members face a decision on whether to replace Lindley Elementary School.
The Lindley building in Greensboro had been scheduled for a combination of repairs and an addition. But the school district is considering whether it should be rebuilt instead.
Sam Cook, a Grimsley parent whose children previously attended Lindley, spoke to school board Tuesday, urging the district to save what he referred to as Lindley’s “historic” school building, constructed in 1928.
Cook said he and some others were caught off-guard last week when the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting listed a vote on “seemingly razing” the elementary for a new school building.
“I could not believe what we were hearing; others could not believe this — this was not what we were told in 2021,” Cook said.
People are also reading…
Cook spoke during the public-comment section of the meeting, and the board didn’t discuss the pros and cons of the two options, including the respective cost estimates.
District spokeswoman Gabrielle Brown said Wednesday that the issue was pulled from the agenda before the meeting because officials heard concerns from community members and wanted to have a conversation before moving forward.
Cook said the district should work with a local preservation group to get advice on renovating the school to be reused for the next 100 years.
“What are we teaching our kids if we destroy facilities that can be saved and reused?” he asked. “It’s not an environmental lesson; it’s not one in teaching the values of history.”
Brown said the district engaged architects and engineers to conduct a detailed site analysis at Lindley over the summer.
Those professionals recommended rebuilding the school due to the extensive repairs and major system replacements required.
“Based on the limited space at Lindley Elementary, the site cannot accommodate the additional seat capacity needed and mandated state classroom site requirements,” spokeswoman Gabrielle Brown shared.
The district held a Zoom meeting with the Lindley parent-teacher organization and community leaders on Monday. According to Brown, the district has plans to meet with parents and stakeholders to gather additional feedback and hear concerns before the school board makes a final decision.
School board members did vote on Tuesday to move forward with the next step with the Sumner Elementary School rebuild project, approving a nearly $3.6 million contract with Moseley Architects for architectural and engineering services and a traffic-impact analysis.
The new school will be built on another part of the same site as the current Sumner Elementary, which is on Harris Drive in southern Guilford County. The school is expected to remain in operation in its current building during the construction.
As listed by the architect, the preliminary budget for the Sumner project is about $69 million — more than twice what the rebuild had been expected to cost in 2019 dollars.
Board members also approved contracts for additional project management services for construction projects for three other schools: the Montessori program at Archer Elementary, and of Sternberger and Allen Jay elementary schools. Archer and Sternberger are in Greensboro and Allen Jay Elementary is in High Point.
Currently, Archer is slated as a renovation project and Sternberger and Allen Jay are slated as rebuilds, though Brown said the district will evaluate the projects to make sure the plans match what is needed. Any changes to the plans will be communicated as they come up, she said, adding that the district expects to make a formal update to the county sometime this fall.
