Guilford County Schools Board of Education approves contract for Lindley Elementary School project

The Guilford County Board of Education approved a $4.1 million contract on Tuesday for work at Lindley Elementary School. Whether that means some renovations or a total rebuild, is yet to be decided.

Lindley Elementary School opened in Greensboro in 1928.

At a school board meeting, parents of Lindley students shared mixed feelings about how the district should move forward with repairing the site. 

For Stephanie Adams, the solution is to start from scratch.

“I care just as much about that school as anyone else. But that building is not serving our kids right now in its current state," Adams said. "And I don't think that it can, without a full rebuild.”

But Craig Taylor thinks the nearly 100-year-old historic building should be renovated and preserved as much as possible. 

“Keeping that 1928 building standing up as opposed to tearing it down and putting it in a landfill and replacing it, is a very sustainable and environmentally friendly approach," Taylor said. 

The school board voted to approve the contract for architectural and engineering services with a company called SHP. 

GCS Deputy Superintendent of Business and Operations Julius Monk said SHP will work with the district to examine the options for renovating, or fully rebuilding Lindley. 

“They will take our design guidelines, and they will apply it to both the rebuild as well as the renovation addition. They will give us a cost," Monk said. "Staff will do an analysis of that and make a recommendation to the board. And then you all will vote on which way do we end up going.”

Monk said the district will also continue to engage with the community throughout this process.

Amy Diaz covers education for WFDD in partnership with Report For America. You can follow her on Twitter at @amydiaze.