Saturday's Internet Edition, May 17, 2008.
School Board Says One New, Big High School Too Costly
|
Board chair Carl Lambert read a statement that said, “At our board meeting last month, Mrs. Whittaker spoke concerning her plans for a petition to build one large, new high school. The board wants to be clear that we are not considering this option.
“A mega-sized high school would need a capacity of at least 2,200 students and would likely cost more than $60 million. Aside from our other concerns about this option, it would be a great hurdle to fund this amount.
“The expected amount of lottery proceeds has decreased from earlier projections and the statewide school bond referendum did not happen with this year’s legislature. The remaining funding options are a one-quarter cent sales tax increase or a land transfer tax. Even if the county voters approve this and we can use all the new tax revenues involved, we would still need another bond vote for a property tax increase that would be much higher than the last bond proposal. One large, new high school is not a viable option.”
Lambert said he has asked Superintendent Dr. Robert Landry to “bring back to the board, no later than September, comments, concerns and recommendations as ... subscribe to the Davie County Enterprise Record, P.O. Box 99, Mocksville, N.C. 27028.