INDEPENDENCE, Va. – Grayson County schools are getting a major facelift after facing earthquakes and dealing with aging infrastructure.
But, $1.3 worth of renovations will turn things around for students and staff thanks to COVID-19 funds.
Cracks on the walls and floors ripped out, three Grayson County schools are getting a makeover.
Targeting the schools that are about 50 to 70 years old, Superintendent Kelly Wilmore said it was time to remove asbestos, improve air quality and revamp classrooms to make Fairview Elementary School, Grayson County Middle School and Grayson County Elementary School safer.
“We want to do it right this time so whoever takes my job 20 years down the line is not going to have to worry about the same thing,” he said.
Replacing air quality systems and working on a new annex building to host youth sports, all the renovations will end up impacting more than 800 students.
Part of the renovations includes fixing the cracks that were left behind by a 5.1 magnitude earthquake nearly a year ago.
Columns are currently supporting a crumbling stage in the high school that could not be fixed last year because of limited time and space.
“We had earthquakes last year,” Wilmore said. “We had floods last year. We had a little bit of a hurricane. We had all kinds of stuff but we move forward.”
Due to a delay with the renovations, the first day of school is pushed back to August 26th.