Richmond Public Schools took a big step this week in its goal to open a new George Wythe High School in August 2024.

On Tuesday, the school system issued its request for pro- posals, or RFP, from architectural firms to design a proposed a 260,000-square-foot building with a capacity for 1,600 students on the South Side campus of the aging 61-year-old building that is to be replaced.

The RFP calls for firms to submit their responses by Oct. 15, with the board to select the winner before Thanksgiving.

The issuance met the deadline set for Superintendent Jason Kamras by a five-member majority of the School Board that is committed to leading school construction.

Mr. Kamras has urged the board to let the city continue to be in charge of the school construction project, saying that with RPS in charge of the project, a new high school could not be finished until 2027.

State law grants school systems sole authority to build new schools unless that authority is ceded to the local government.

“I’m ecstatic that RPS is on schedule to open a world-class George Wythe High School,” School Board Vice Chair Jonathan Young, 4th District, a leader of the School Board majority, stated in a message to the Free Press after the RFP was issued.

Mayor Levar M. Stoney also has publicly contended that RPS’ control would keep the current worn-out George Wythe building in use until 2027, while claiming that city leadership could ensure an opening as of January 2025.

In the wake of the RFP’s issuance, Mr. Young stated that the selected architectural firm, working with a committee of teachers, parents, community members and staff, should have the proposed design ready for bid within nine to 10 months.

If all goes well, he indicated that the board could award a contract for the new building before Christmas 2022, with the public seeing dirt moving at the site early in 2023.

He noted that is the same timeline that Henrico County followed in moving forward with construction of two new high schools, J.R. Tucker and Highland Springs, both of which are on track to open next week. Construction on both schools began in early 2019.

The release of the school system’s RFP also appears to have undercut a similar RFP that City Hall issued in June for a new high school, with an award to be announced in coming weeks.

However, the School Board never agreed to participate in evaluating the firms that responded by early August to the city’s RFP. In response to one firm’s query, City Hall said that one of the responding firms would be selected and paid.

Based on an opinion issued by the city attorney’s office, the School Board would need to accept any design that the city’s selected firm might create as it remains in control of building.