LOUDOUN COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS FY2026-FY2031 CAPITAL BUDGETS

Loudoun County Public Schools’ (LCPS) Strategic Plan, One LCPS Strategic Plan for Excellence (One LCPS), provides direction for the school division through 2027. The School Board-approved plan places students at the center of all we do.

Four goals are foundational in helping LCPS achieve the mission and vision of One LCPS:  Empowered Students, Exemplary Staff, Enriched Division, and Engaged Community.

Specific to this capital budget document, the focus is specifically on the Enriched Division goal and the aligned action to create safe, productive learning environments to support high-quality instruction for all students.  The Capital Improvement Program (CIP) and Capital Asset Preservation Program (CAPP) budgets support this mission-critical component of the district’s work.

Each year, LCPS prepares a CIP and CAPP budget.  Both capital budgets are developed by fiscal year (FY), covering a six-year period.  The Superintendent’s recommended budgets are presented to the Loudoun County School Board for review and action.  Following School Board adoption, the capital budgets are forwarded to the County Administrator for inclusion in the County’s Proposed Fiscal Plan.  The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors adopts an annual Fiscal Plan in the spring of each calendar year.  The authority to spend public funds for identified capital projects is held by the Board of Supervisors and authorized as part of the annual Fiscal Plan.

Reviewed and updated annually, adjustments are made to projects reflecting changes in cost, circumstances, and priorities. Annual enrollment projections, school capacities, and county population trends influence the priority order of projects and funding recommendations in the CIP. Capital projects included in the CIP are based on School Board-approved educational policy standards and the ability of existing facilities to accommodate present and proposed educational program requirements. The CIP is designed to focus on critical facility issues and ensure all students have high-quality facilities that enhance their learning experience.

A component of the CIP is the Capital Renewal and Alteration (CRA) budget, which identifies annual monies to replace, repair, and update critical facility systems; construct needed building, site, or campus alterations; construct classroom additions; renovate and/or renew buildings or sections of buildings; and/or install needed technology upgrades. The uniqueness of CRA funding is that staff can flexibly use this budget line to accommodate emergencies or other high-priority facility needs.

Since 1990, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors and the Loudoun County School Board have used the CAPP budget to address regular maintenance and replacement of facility system components. Project components have shorter-term life cycles than the buildings they support and require major maintenance and/or replacement at least every ten years, depending on the component type and the frequency and intensity of use.

The CAPP budget is designed to address and fund the replacement and maintenance of major systems in schools and support facilities. These systems are electrical (i.e., clocks, fire alarm systems, generators, lighting, switchgears), mechanical (i.e., chillers, control systems, HVAC equipment, cooling towers), plumbing (i.e., boilers, grease traps, water heaters), resurfacing (i.e., asphalt/concrete, poured-in-place playgrounds, tennis courts, running tracks), roofing, and structure (i.e., bleachers, doors, elevators, flooring, painting, turf fields, windows) related.

Until the turn of the twenty-first century, developers proffered most of Loudoun’s public school sites to support the student population, which was attributed to new residential growth. The resulting boom in enrollment and school construction rapidly exhausted nearly all proffered school sites in LCPS’ inventory. Today, the scarcity of developable property with utilities and adjacent to residentially zoned land makes it challenging to locate schools near the populations they will serve.

Each area of the county presents unique considerations when procuring sites for future school development.

• In the Urban and Suburban Policy Areas, prime undeveloped land is typically purchased at a premium dollar for future residential, commercial, and/or industrial development. Future redevelopment in the suburban area may involve infill development on smaller, already developed parcels where rezonings to high-density, mixed-use developments will occur. In these instances, land for sale or proffer, especially for school uses, may be limited.

• In the Transition Policy Area, the increased pattern of by-right development and residential rezonings on smaller parcels of land may hinder the proffering of school public use sites.

• In the Rural Policy Area, rezonings that may proffer a school site are not anticipated.

As vacant, developable land becomes increasingly scarce, competition for available property will increase land acquisition costs. It is anticipated that several future school sites will need to be purchased.

During the thirty-year CIP planning period (FY 2026 – FY 2055), LCPS is planning for the following: • Seven new elementary schools • Three new middle schools • Four new high schools, including the replacement of Park View High School

During the same timeframe, land may need to be acquired for: • Three to four new elementary schools • Two to three new middle schools • Two new high schools

LCPS continues to build more compact, multi-story schools that require less land on a smaller site footprint. As allowed by County zoning, LCPS uses a more urban design for schools that exceed two stories in height and achieves other site efficiencies to deliver educational programs on reduced footprints. In 2022, LCPS opened its first three-story elementary school (Elaine E. Thompson Elementary School) and, in 2024, its first four-story middle school (Watson Mountain Middle School). Loudoun’s next public high school (HS-14), opening in fall 2028, will also be a four-story building.

LCPS annually forecasts division student enrollment. The enrollment projections are utilized for various planning and decision-making functions, of which operational and capital budgeting needs are essential. Understanding student membership changes is critical as LCPS prepares its FY 2026 budgets.

Projections are an informed and educated estimate of future student membership. Forecast accuracy generally diminishes as the geographic area becomes smaller and the planning horizon becomes more distant. Countywide forecasts have been and will be more accurate than school-level forecasts because the population being projected is much larger. The COVID-19 pandemic impacted school divisions nationwide, including LCPS’ student enrollment; membership has been atypical throughout the division, reflecting changes in population, new development, and migration. Current enrollment trends reveal facility and capacity challenges for some regions of Loudoun for this FY 2026 - FY 2031 planning period.

Community demographics impact school enrollment trends over time. Loudoun County’s transformation from an agricultural community to a suburb of a greater metropolitan area was part of a national shift in population.

Loudoun County’s population increased from 169,699, reported by the 2000 United States Census (Census), to 420,959 persons in 2020. Loudoun’s populace has also become more diverse while growing in number.The percentage of Whites decreased from 83 percent in 2000 to 54 percent in 2020. Loudoun’s Asian population, over the score, increased from five (5) percent in 2000 to 21 percent, as reported in the 2020 Census. The Hispanic population, which can be of any race, increased from six (6) percent in 2000 to 14 percent in 2020.

Loudoun’s resident live births were 3,646 in 2000, 5,012 in 2010, and 4,666 in 2020. Mirroring Virginia, Loudoun’s births have further declined to 4,255 in 2023.

In providing educational facilities that will accommodate the instructional programs for all students, LCPS annually reviews each school facility's building capacity and utilization. Capacity identifies the number of student spaces available within a school, considering the educational specifications for elementary, middle, and high schools; instructional program requirements; and identified student-teacher ratios.

During the past decade, LCPS has opened six new elementary schools, three new middle schools, three new high schools, the Academies of Loudoun, and The North Star School. During this same period, LCPS also transitioned Hillsboro Elementary School to the Hillsboro Charter Academy and opened William Obediah Robey High School (located at Dominion High School). Even so, 60 percent of Loudoun’s public schools and support facilities are over 20 years of age; the average age of school facilities alone is 29. Proposed renovations and renewals aim to ensure LCPS buildings are safe and functional regardless of age to serve the educational mission of Loudoun County and support community uses year-round.