Fauquier County School Board

320 Hospital Drive

Brian Gorg Warrenton, Virginia 20186 Raymond “Duke”
Chairman Bland
Center District Marshall District

Donna Grove Suzanne Sloane

Vice Chairman Scott District
Cedar Run District
Don Mason
Lee District
Excellence by Design

September 22, 2017

Richard Gerhardt
Board of Supervisors of Fauquier County
10 Hotel Street
Warrenton, Virginia 20186

Re: Middle School Funding Discussions

Dear Chairman Gerhardt:

The Fauquier County School Board is in receipt of your letter dated September 14, 2017,
and appreciates the Board of Supervisors’ willingness to provide funding to the school division
in the amount of $27.5 million of debt funding in addition to working with the schools on finding
ways for additional money which may be needed to complete a project. While the School Board
understands the need for a financial plan for funding this project, we cannot agree to the
parameters of the plan without evaluating how education in this county will be impacted by
implementing the mechanisms laid out in the letter you sent.

The roles of a county board of supervisors and a county school board are well defined by
Virginia constitutional and statutory law. Notably, Article 8, Section 7 of the Virginia
Constitution reads: “the supervision of schools in each school division shall be vested in a school
board.” More specifically, the consolidation of schools is a power vested solely in a school
board. Virginia Code § 22.1-79(4) directs the school board to “Care for, manage and control the
property of the school division and provide for the erecting, furnishing, equipping, and non-
instructional operating of necessary school buildings and appurtenances and the maintenance
thereof by purchase, lease, or other contracts.”

Given the fact $27.5 million was not a funding amount previously expressed by the
Board of Supervisors, to the School Board’s knowledge, and the School Board did not consider
options for the use of funds in the range of this amount, the School Board is prepared to move
forward to determine the best possible use of these funds for our students’ benefit and the best
value for taxpayers. We intend to look at solutions to this middle school modernization project
which achieve the financial results your plan expressed. We expect that our ideas would be
welcomed as a plan is developed.

I am encouraged that our boards share a common goal to move forward with a solution to
current unacceptable building issues. In that spirit, the School Board members anticipate the
Board of Supervisors’ members will positively acknowledge and recognize our work on a plan
for the Fauquier County educational buildings based on the information provided herein.

Sincerely,

Brian Gorg
Chairman,
Fauquier County School Board

cc: Fauquier County School Board

David Jeck, Division Superintendent
Paul McCulla, County Administrator