Guilford County voters will have not one but two school bonds on the ballot for the May 6 primary. The Guilford County Board of Education originally submitted a $457 million school bond package to Guilford County commissioners, but commissioners split the package into two bonds at its Jan.16 meeting.
The board voted to separate the $45 million requested in the original package to help rebuild Eastern Guilford High School, which burned down Nov. 1, 2006. Commissioner Steve Arnold made the motion to split the package, and it passed by an 8-3 vote.
“I think it would be unfair and unwise to tie other projects or other bond issues to [Eastern Guilford] in particular,” Arnold said. “I think the public will overwhelmingly support that bond, and I would like to see it placed separately on the ballot with its own question and its own ‘yes or no’ so the public can support that project and we can get it handled as we should do.”
While there may indeed be strong public support for a bond to rebuild Eastern Guilford, the same cannot be said for the remaining $412 million bond, which commissioners placed on the ballot with an 8-3 vote.
Most recently, voters passed a $200 million bond in 2000 and a $300 million bond in 2003. At the December meeting considering the original $457 million bond, Superintendent Terry Grier assured school board members that future funds would be spent as wisely as the 2000 bond, which ended up with a surplus that allowed for the construction of an extra school.
“I can you promise you this — just because you approve this referendum, does not mean that we will not try to build schools cheaper, as we did in our first bond referendum when we had enough money left over to build Oak Ridge Elementary School,” Grier said.
Guilford County Schools have lost some credibility with the public recently after its handling of the 2003 bond funds. Grier and his staff cited rising construction costs as well as unexpected costs related to renovations of existing buildings for the shortfall that prevented one of the major projects on that bond, a new Jamestown Middle School, from getting beyond the planning phase.
The new Jamestown school is now included in the $412 million bond at a cost of $33.5 million. But the school’s final construction plan was in doubt up to the last minute. School board members believed they could shave $3 million off the package by adding an autism wing there instead of adding it to an existing high school. But after meeting with Jamestown parents, board members decided against that plan.
Board member Jeff Belton acknowledged the school system had little credibility in Jamestown.
“We don’t have a lot of credibility in Jamestown. All they got was higher taxes,” Belton said. “So I felt like it was important that we go down there and talk to them not only about the size of the school but what we envisioned for schools in that area, but also give those folks in that area a chance to speak with us personally and for us to face the music. I felt like we got off surprisingly light.”
Other new schools on the bond package include a Northern Greensboro-area elementary school at a cost of $25.3 million; a Southeast Greensboro-area elementary school at a cost of $24.8 million; and a new Alamance Elementary at a cost of $20.3 million.
There are also some pricey renovations on the package. A classroom addition and upgrades to the gym and media center at Southwest High School are coming in at $31 million, while the same renovations at Southeast High School are listed at $33 million.
But those costs pale in comparison to the cost of the new airport-area high school, which is coming in at $71.9 million.
But GCS staff warned at a September school board meeting that the cost could soar as high as $88 million. GCS facilities consultant Joe Hill explained the so-called soft costs, but board member Amos Quick wasn’t buying it.
“It’s still going to be $88 million,” Quick said. “The point I’m trying to make is that when we’re talking about a bond package that grows every time we get together, every time we get together to talk about this, it seems to me, this figure grows.”
Some board members expressed displeasure with the $457 million package right before the vote.
“I’m not set on these costs, and it really sounds bad coming from an accountant that when you start shaving dollars off, it doesn’t make a huge difference, because personally I think we could shave $30-$40 million off this bond by really working hard at it. In my heart, I think it could be done,” said board member Garth Hebert.
“This is a lot of money, and if we could possibly build more schools with this amount or hopefully less, which I believe we could, I think we’d be in much better standing with the commissioners and the public. I want to make sure this is going to pass, because I know how badly we need the schools,” added board member Darlene Garrett.
Further complicating matters is the fact that Grier accepted the job as superintendent of the San Diego Unified School District named Grier its new superintendent in January. Grier officially starts his new job July 1, but the San Diego district stated it will pay Grier $1,000 per day as contractor for every day he works prior to that time.
So, as of now, it’s not clear whether or not Grier will even be in town to see the bonds pass or fail.
Sam Hieb is a contributing editor of Carolina Journal.