Millions of dollars are head- ing to Richmond Public Schools to support school construction projects, including the rebuild of burned-out Fox Elementary School in The Fan, and the development of a new career and technical education high school in South Side, according to information provided to the Richmond School Board.

The projected $27.5 million that RPS is to receive from the state appears to largely be due to legislative amendments that were tacked onto the 2022- 2024 state budget the General Assembly approved and the governor signed into law a year ago.

The Free Press has been told the stream of new funding from the state is unaffected by the current budget impasse at the General Assembly over proposed changes in spending for the 2023-24 fiscal year that begins July 1.

The funding the School Board is to discuss at its first meeting in June is to include $5.6 million to support the rebuild of Fox Elementary, whose second floor and roof were destroyed by a blaze in February 2022. That would be on top of the $15 million that Mayor Levar M. Stoney and City Council just approved in the city’s new budget.

Dana Fox, RPS’ chief operating officer, has projected that restoring the elementary school could cost $25 million. The city stepped in after RPS indicated the insurance might cover only about $10 million.

The new state funds ensure full funding, enabling the project to proceed. At this point, contractors are installing a new roof, but the full rebuild is still months away.

RPS also is to receive $20 million to support the transformation of a former tobacco factory on Maury Street into the vocational high school.

“We’re back on track,” 4th District School Board Jonathan Young, a leading advocate for the school, exclaimed after learning of the new funding. He noted the city had agreed to provide $215 million for new construction, with about $155 million earmarked to build a replacement for George Wythe High School and $15 million for Fox.

That would leave $45 million to invest in the School Board’s No. 2 priority, creation of the vocational high school in the building Altria donated to the school system a few years ago, he said.

Along with the state dollars, that would mean RPS would have $65 million to spend, “which should be adequate to do a lot of the work,” Mr. Young said. That new school is aimed at replacing RPS’current career and technical center, which Mr. Young envisions being sold to raise more money to develop the new high school for 1,100 students.

The state also plans to provide $1 million to RPS to make improvements to Francis Elementary School in South Side and $1 million for improvements to Henderson Middle School in North Side.