VSDB - Consolidation Site Selection

Item 136 #1c

Language
Page 120, line 33, strike "$52,709,982" and insert "$52,759,532".
Page 120, line 34, strike "$52,925,369" and insert "$53,074,019".
Page 121, line 17, insert:
"D. 1. In order to provide improved services through up-to-date facilities as well as to achieve long-term cost savings, notwithstanding other provisions of the Code of Virginia, the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind at Staunton and the Virginia School for the Deaf, Blind, and Multi-disabled at Hampton shall be consolidated into one school upon completion of a new facility at a site as determined by the State Board of Education with assistance from the Department of General Services.
2. a. The State Board of Education, assisted by the Department of General Services, shall consider, among other options, Public-Private Education Act (PPEA) proposals to plan and design the consolidation of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind at Staunton and the Virginia School for the Deaf, Blind and Multi-disabled at Hampton into a single campus and the transfer of students, programs and services to a single campus, the location of which shall be incorporated into a PPEA proposal or a conventional capital construction project proposal that will be accepted, reviewed and adopted by the State Board of Education no later than July 31, 2005.
b. In the event that the State Board of Education selects a PPEA proposal, the Department of General Services is authorized to enter into an agreement for construction of the new school at a total cost not to exceed $61.5 million.
3. The Departments of Education and General Services shall provide an update on the final location selected by the State Board of Education and on the planning and construction process to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Committees on Education and Appropriations and the Senate Committees on Finance and Education and Health by October 1, 2005.  At a minimum, the report shall address:
a. Revised cost estimates and proposed timelines for construction of the new facility for consolidating services for the students served by Virginia’s two schools at Staunton and Hampton;
b. In cooperation with the Department of Planning and Budget, revised projected operating budgets for fiscal years 2007 through 2010, including any one-time transition costs;
c. The status of proposed mechanisms to assist school divisions with programs for children transferring into local school divisions rather than continuing enrollment at the new school location;
d. Detailed cost estimates of possible program enhancements, including specialized technology, expanding services to include deaf children with emotional disabilities; and
e. Potential alternative uses of the existing campuses in Hampton and Staunton.”
Page 120, strike lines 18 through 21.

Explanation
(This amendment requires consolidation of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind at Staunton and the Virginia School for the Deaf, Blind, and Multi-disabled at Hampton at a new facility to be identified in a final consolidation and site selection plan as adopted by the State Board of Education. In addition, there is a companion amendment in Item 135 related to the transfer of $198,200 to this item to support the State Board of Education in implementing consolidation. The schools, which have a combined enrollment of about 200 students, are each situated on 70-plus acre multi-building campuses with growing deferred maintenance needs.)