Danville School Board approves agreement for new Johnson Elementary School

Danville School leaders have signed an agreement to completely overhaul an elementary school.  

The School Board Thursday signed a comprehensive agreement with Branch Builds for a brand new G.L.H. Johnson Elementary Superintendent Doctor Angela Hairston says they signed an interim agreement for the work last fall. 

The new school will be built in stages, meaning students will attend the current school while the new one is built around them. 

The School Board last year appointed a special Naming Committee to get public input on the school’s new name.  The School Board will vote on their recommendations later this year. 

Danville City Council will vote on the comprehensive agreement at their first meeting in March.

The School Board will soon turn their attention to plans for upgrades at Langston. Langston will be renovated to become the new home for the Galileo Magnet High School, along with the School Board’s central office. The school’s central office is currently in the former Sovran Bank building on the lower end of Main Street. Galileo has operated for nearly 20 years out of the former Sears building on South Ridge Street.

The renovated Langston building will also host the GO-TEC STEM lab for Middle School students.

The panel last month finalized plans for massive upgrades at GW High School. Preliminary work on those upgrades are already underway.

All of this is being paid for thanks to a sales tax referendum Danville voters approved in 2020. That is expected to raise more than $141 million in revenue.  The projects should be done by mid-2025.