RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) – Richmond Public Schools are getting a new look.
“We are grateful and excited about the changes we are able to make,” said RPS Superintendent Jason Kamras.
On Thursday, school leaders announced that 22 schools will benefit from improvements thanks to a $15.3 million federal grant for upgrades such as heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.
“And that means better air conditioning, better heating, better energy management. And that’s a big deal because it’s hard to learn if you’re cold when you’re too hot,” Kamras says.
The average age of some of the RPS schools undergoing improvements is 86 years.
This includes John Marshall High School, which will be getting a new wall because the old one is damaged and crumbling. The cost is almost $3 million. It will be made of metal panels and equipped with windows and door frames.
Construction work will be completed in October.
“We invest in our students every day. We give them love and they give us love back,” said Monica Murray, principal of John Marshall School. “And we know they deserve a building that meets all the goals and expectations we have for them; they want the same in the building they come to every day.”
Senior Kaileigh Wilson-Porter said RPS is in desperate need of these repairs.
“RPS doesn’t get a lot of money, you know?” she said. “They just look past us. That’s OK in a way, but then you think, OK, what about us? What do we get? Because everyone else is getting new stuff, so what about us?”
Even though she won’t be there when the improvements are complete, she’s excited for future students who will experience them.
“They get to see the school flourish, they get to see all the new things, all the new people, all the new teachers that may come in the coming years, and so I’m really happy for them,” Wilson-Porter said.
All of these projects are expected to be completed sometime in 2025.
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