A look at school construction costs across Virginia

In the coming months, localities all across the Commonwealth of Virginia will be presenting information to voters about how they would use the proceeds of a one-percent sales tax. Later this week I will have a story about Charlottesville City Council’s joint meeting with the School Board about the topic.

It may be useful to have some understanding of how much a new school costs.

According to a July 10, 2026 report from the Virginia Department of Education, there were nine new elementary schools built across the Commonwealth with a total cost per pupil of $62,062.

One of the new schools is in Albemarle County with the description of Southern Feeder Pattern Elementary School which has a capacity of 600 total students and a total cost of $41,802,338. That works out to $69,671 per pupil for what the county calls Mountain View Upper Elementary School.

Larger schools tend to have a lower cost per pupil. For instance, West Area Elementary School in Chesterfield has a maximum operating capacity of 1,078 which works out to $40,031 per space with a total cost of $48,997,000.

On the other end, New Beaverdam Elementary in Hanover County is built for 494 students and has a total cost of $43,748,700. That works out to $88,664 per pupil.

There were four high schools submitted as part of this report and one of them has the project title of Albemarle High School Center II. This has since been rebranded to ACE Academy Lambs Lane Campus. The total cost is $40,776,127 for a 63,225 square foot building. That works out to $81,532 per pupil.

The Albemarle School Board spent many years planning for these “centers” as an alternative to building a much larger high school. Three such projects were completed in this reporting period:

• Southern Gap High School in Buchanan County can accommodate 1,032 students at a cost of $97,411,677 or $94,391 per pupil.
• “New Halifax High School” in that county was built for 1,491 students at a cost of $122,924,039. That’s $94,931 per pupil.
• Loudoun County High School #14 can fit 2,409 students at a total cost of $202,599,008. That’s $84,101 a space.

Albemarle County Public Schools also spent $6,372,312 on a connector wing at Albemarle High School. The appendix has a further explanation about this project.

“The high cost is due to a second story addition over an existing and occupied space,” reads the note.

The report is put together by the department’s Office of Support Services. Learn more here.

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