Although that area of the replacement school is labeled as a “data center,” Paul Lebo — the chief operating officer for the school district — said in an interview that “that word probably sounds scarier than it really should be.”
“It’s really a computer server room that’s able to support more than just the school,” he said.
Lebo said the server room is about 1,000 square feet, which is a bit larger than a typical classroom, and is in a separate part of the building. He added that the room does not take away from instructional space in the school.
“As we had construction going in the southwestern portion of the county, it was a good opportunity to expand and meet the growing demands that we have for computer storage to support all our instructional programs,” he said.
Lebo said the server room can provide backup support to all schools in the district, and the room was included in the original educational specifications for Valley’s replacement school.
“It’s been part of the plan and part of what has been discussed and reviewed with the [school board] for many years,” he said.
The Frederick County Board of Education on Wednesday approved an expense amendment that transferred $160,000 for the data server room out of the mid-level management expenditures category into the operations category.
The funds were originally budgeted in the wrong category, and approving the expense amendment allowed those funds to be reported in the correct category, according to the school board’s agenda.
The replacement Valley Elementary School will be built on the same plot as the existing school, on Jefferson Pike. Construction began for the school in April 2024, and the state-rated capacity for the new building is 745 students.
The state-rated capacity of the current building is 499, and according to FCPS’ 2024 Educational Facilities Master Plan, the 2024 enrollment for Valley Elementary was 517.
Lebo said replacement Valley and Green Valley elementary schools are scheduled to open for students this fall.
“It’s going well with that project, and we’re thrilled,” he said.
©2025 The Frederick News-Post (Frederick, Md.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
