August 2, 2010 Page 1

Special Session

August 2, 2010

The Montgomery County School Board met on the above date at the County
Government Center at 5:00 p.m. for the purpose of a joint meeting with
the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors.

School Board Members Present

B. Wendell Jones, Chair Drema B. Foster
Phyllis T. Albritton Penny J. Franklin
Jamie M. Bond Wat H. Hopkins
Joseph T. Ivers, Jr.

Staff Members Present

Brenda Blackburn, Superintendent
Brenda L. Drake Walter L. Shannon

Board of Supervisors Members Present

Mary W. Biggs John A. Muffo
William H. Brown Annette S. Perkins
Gary Creed Jim Politis
Douglas W. Marrs

County Staff Members Present

Craig Meadows, County Administrator
L. Carol Edmonds Vickie Swinney
Marty McMahon

Call to Order
Wendell Jones called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. with the pledge
of allegiance to the flag.

Work Session
Joe Ivers moved, seconded by Drema Foster, and the Board voted
unanimously to enter a work session at 5:04 p.m.

The group had dinner.

• Update on School Capital Projects: Brenda Blackburn, division

superintendent, presented on the school board’s capital plan
options. The precipitating incident was the loss of the use of
Blacksburg High School. The school system has renovated Old
Christiansburg Middle School for Blacksburg Middle School for the
2010-2011 school year. Blackburn presented the four options and
possible debt repayment scenarios.
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Special Session

The boards discussed land use and the appropriateness of re-

building Blacksburg High School on the current plot of land. It
was concluded that the land is still sound and that it is possible
to repair and use the building.

The boards discussed air quality and HVAC concerns at Blacksburg

High School.

The boards talked about the roof failure of the old Lowe’s
building that has been converted to a rec center.

The board discussed estimates of construction costs and the

timeline for building a new school.

The boards debated fiscal responsibility.

Craig Meadows presented information on the county debt capacity.

The county prefers to maintain a high quality debt rating to keep
interest rates low. The debt ratio to assessed value policy helps
ensure that rating. Currently, debt service is allowed to encumber
up to 12% of budget expenditures. The county’s financial advisors
indicated that 2013-2014 was the soonest that additional debt
could be issued. Meadows forwarded the school board’s options to
financial advisors for review.

Annette Perkins pointed out that there are multiple scenarios to

obtain money and that the Board of Supervisors needs the bond
council and financial advisors to advise on how much more can be
borrowed.

The boards discussed alternative funding options.

The boards stated that this is a preliminary discussion and

decided to have another joint session once the board of
supervisors receives addition information from their financial
advisors.

The boards discussed current building populations, including

enrollment projections.

The boards had a conversation about the possibility of using

reserves to fund current projects.

Return to Regular Session

Phyllis Albritton moved, seconded by Penny Franklin, and the Board
voted unanimously to return to regular session at 6:40 p.m.
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Special Session

Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 6:42 p.m. on motion by Penny Franklin,
seconded by Phyllis Albritton, and passed unanimously.

School Board Chair Clerk of the School Board