HHS2 Updates

Apr. 21, Harrisonburg City School Board voted to suspend the construction of the second high school for one year at most.This decision was made with a unanimous vote to halt construction beginning Apr. 30. Representatives from Harrisonburg City Public Schools and city officials collaborated on this decision, including HCPS superintendent Dr. Michael G. Richards.  “The city manager and I met on t...

Harrisonburg City Public Schools’s newest high school is slated to open in the fall of 2022, but it is now a possibility that the entire school will not be built by then. Superintendent Michael G. Richards and two other school board members devised an alternative plan for building the new high school that would delay construction of sports facilities until the school building is completed.  ...

The decision came down to Mayor Deanna Reed’s vote. After Vice Mayor Sal Romero and Councilman Christopher Jones voted in favor of the division's new high school being built all at once and opening in 2022, Councilman Richard Baugh and Councilman George Hirschmann voted against it, Reed sealed the deal at the Harrisonburg City Council meeting Dec.10 and confirmed that the new high school would be built in one phase and slated top open for the 202...

Exceeding capacity with a total of 1800 students, Harrisonburg High School has become an overcrowded building to all students and faculty. Due to this issue, gym pep rallies are cancelled, class changes are longer and lunch periods are shorter. Addressing this problem, the HCPS board finialized the plan to build a new high school for the city. A group of parents, teachers, administrators and students aro...

It’s only a matter of time before the completion of the new high school is advanced to 2022. With a majority of council members supporting the accelerated time frame, it has become a waiting game while the school board considers its options. These include a proposition from Nielsen Builders, Inc. to use a design/build model instead of a design-bid-build model, according to reporting from the H...

Students, school staff and community members packed the city council chambers on Jan. 23. The topic was the construction of a new high school to solve overcrowding. Ultimately, the council would vote to build, but two years later than the school board had proposed. This means the second Harrisonburg High School is scheduled to open in 2023. An atmosphere of anxious anticipation fell on the chambers as th...

It was a clear and blustery evening on Court Square as senior Jack O’Brien stepped up to the podium flanked by fellow senior Martin Beck. He was introduced to applause and took the mic. O’Brien began by introducing himself, then turned to the issue at hand. “As my four years [at HHS] have unfolded, I’ve seen the school undergo changes,” O’Brien said. “The administration and fa...