By KEITH WALKER
For Potomac Local News
STAFFORD COUNTY, Va. — Stafford County’s Aquia District Supervisor Paul Milde doesn’t plan on yielding on his position on renovating Stafford Senior High School rather than building a new one.
Even though the board has voted several times to demolish Stafford Senior High School and build a new one in its place, Milde said he is determined to once again bring the matter before the board.
“I’ll make them vote on that,” Milde said.
In a recent editorial published at PotomacLocalNews.com, Milde wrote that it didn’t make sense opposition to tear down the 285,000-square-foot Stafford Senior High only to replace it with a new 275,000-square-foot high school at a cost of $66 million.
Milde wrote that renovating Stafford Senior High School would give the county afford the county better financial standing.
“Why tie up $66 million in County borrowing capacity to build a new school when renovating the existing facility would fulfill our needs for about a third of that?” he wrote.
In a recent phone interview, Milde said one reason he favors renovation is that the savings could be used to give teachers pay raises.
He said the savings in the monthly payments and interest on a $66 million loan, or the debt service, would easily pay for teacher pay raises for years to come.
“The debt service on that kind of money is $5 million. It’s four cents on the tax rate,” he said. “In the out years it’s a savings of $3 million a year in debt service for 20 years.”
Vice Chairman Robert Thomas favors building a new school while leaving the existing building in place, but he found that option unlikely. He said he had his staff evaluate the cost of land for a new school which would allow the county to keep the old building.
“I had them looking at different options and trying to find property on the outskirts of the existing school …but I can’t make that puzzle work to keep both buildings,” said Thomas, who represents the George Washington District.
Stafford County Board of Supervisors Chairman Susan B. Stimpson, Garrisonville District Supervisor Ty Schieber and Hartwood District Supervisor Gary Snellings sided with Thomas in the board’s latest vote.
Griffis-Widewater Supervisor Jack Cavalier, sides with Milde on the issue.
One of the reasons he voted with Milde was because the county’s population isn’t growing as fast as it was a decade ago.
“We’re not in a ‘build-a-high-school’ mode right now like we were back in the early to mid-2000s,” said Cavalier who voted for renovation in the latest board vote. “I’m sure eventually we’re going to get there, but I don’t think we’re at critical mass right now.”
Rock Hill District Supervisor Cord Sterling said he would once again look at the county’s ‘0verall budget and what advances the county in its financial goals infrastructure,’ before deciding how he would vote if Milde sways the board toward reconsideration
“It depends on all of the factors that are going into this budget,” Sterling said.
Sterling doesn’t necessarily agree with the notion of borrowing money simply because interest rates are low.
“It doesn’t matter how cheap money is, if you can’t afford to pay it back, you go bankrupt,” he said.
Sterling, who voted in favor of renovation in the latest vote, went on to say that reversing the board’s decision to build a new high school would be “difficult.”
Cavalier said he understood that disagreement over the issue remained, but agreed with Sterling.
“It’s a fairly controversial topic. People have their opinions. It’s just like anything else with schools. It’s a hard decision. A decision’s been made and right now that’s the one we have to live with,” Cavalier said.
Milde said he would persevere.
“It’s not too late,” he said.
