Members of the Guilford County Board of Education shouldn’t be surprised if support for another school bond appears a little weak. And rest assured, another bond referendum soon will be put before the public.
“We will push for another bond referendum,” said Chairman Alan Duncan. “We have no choice. Our student population continues to grow at a high rate.”
But Guilford County School officials recently drew fire from county commissioners when school leaders recently made requests to shift money from a project that that was on the $300 million bond package that passed in 2003.
On three occasions, GCS officials went before the commissioners requesting the transfer of bond money budgeted for a new Jamestown Middle School to other projects. GCS has already drained $15 million from the Jamestown project, the total cost of which was estimated to be $29 million.
With the shortage of funds, it is uncertain when the Jamestown project will be started, much less completed. While the requests were ultimately granted, commissioners openly criticized GCS’ handling of bond funds.
“It’s time to stop robbing Peter to pay Paul,” said Commissioner Linda Shaw.
In February, Duncan requested the transfer of $2 million from the Jamestown project, citing a 42 percent increase in construction costs as the main reason for the overruns on other bond projects.
Bids and site planning for new projects also came in at about $8 million more than estimated, Duncan said.
Some commissioners weren’t sympathetic.
“You say it’s a priority, but then you take away from it?” County Commissioner Skip Alston said.
“You told them in the bond package they were going to get this,” said Commissioner Trudy Wade, who represents the Jamestown district. “If I lived in Jamestown, I’d have real trouble believing anything the school board told me.”
“There was no good decision, I want to emphasize that,” Duncan said. “It came down to this: Which ox is going to get gored?”
Duncan explained projects had to be prioritized in order of their impact on capacity.
“We’ve added 5,000 students since the $300 million package passed,” Duncan said.
Despite the protests of Alston and Wade, commissioners voted 6-5 to allow the transfer.
At the next commissioners’ meeting, GCS Chief Financial Officer Sharon Ozment requested that $294,000 from the Jamestown project be transferred back into the system’s capital outlay fund to cover the cost of mobile classroom at schools where bond projects were being completed.
Again, commissioners expressed concern over the future of the Jamestown project.
“If we don’t do this, will it in any way speed up the project at Jamestown?” Commissioner Paul Gibson asked.
“No sir,” Ozment replied.
Commissioners delayed voting on the transfer of the money until they could get more answers. Confusing matters more was GCS’ request for $962,000 in county money to supplement $2.8 million in state funds for a small magnet program to serve students at Smith High School. The cost of the project included the purchase and renovation of the former Oakwood Mobile Homes headquarters, which is down the road from Smith.
GCS’ plans for the new Smith High School Academy were spurred by a directive from Wake Superior Court Judge Howard Manning, who is overseeing a court case on school equality in North Carolina.
Manning has consistently warned school administrators that poor-performing schools violate the state constitution by not providing citizens with an education.
Manning has issued a number of reform plans, one of which is carving smaller, more specialized schools out of low-performing high schools.
To prove he’s serious, Manning threatened to shut down 44 underperforming schools around the state, and Smith was on the list.
Still, some commissioners couldn’t understand why GCS was moving so quickly on the Smith project while the Jamestown project was allowed to languish.
“I’m just trying to figure out what the priorities are,” Wade said.
At the next meeting, GCS Superintendent Terry Grier spoke before the commissioners in an attempt to explain the constant shifting of funds, not an easy task by any stretch.
“We never made a promise to build every project that was on that list,” Grier said.
He then vociferously defended the school system’s use of taxpayer dollars, especially funds from the $200 million bond that passed in 2000.
“We spent that money very wisely,” Grier said. “We built schools on time and under budget. In fact, we managed those projects so well that we had $28 million left at the end of the day. We’ve not had one single audit finding in five years. I promise you there are not a lot of other large businesses that can make that claim.”
Grier also reminded the commissioners they had twice before approved transfer of funds from the Jamestown project to help complete two new schools.
“I don’t recall being questioned about that,” Grier said. “I don’t remember getting a call from one of you.”
Grier’s reminder didn’t faze Shaw, who said the school system owed it to the citizens of Jamestown to complete the new middle school.
“You sold them a bill of goods,” Shaw said. “Why can’t you finish that project first and keep your word to those people? You’ve got to start keeping your word or we’re never going to get another bond passed.”
In the end, the commissioners voted 7-4 to approve the transfer of funds. Democrats Alston and Bruce Davis, who also sternly questioned GCS’ use of bond money, voted yes, as did Republican Billy Yow.
As he was speaking to commissioners, Grier was being considered for the superintendent’s job at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. He later withdrew his name, citing his “deep commitment and responsibility to the children, citizens, and leadership of Guilford County Schools to continue to improve upon our good work.”
To get another bond referendum passed, Grier’s commitment will indeed have to run pretty deep.
Sam Hieb is a contributing editor of Carolina Journal.