This is the second installment of a three-part series dealing with bond and amendment issues in the recent elections. Tomorrow's story will focus on road bonds.
North Carolina voters overwhelmingly approved a $1.8 billion bond referendum for public school construction in the November elections, passing the measure by a wide margin of 73 percent to 27 percent.
Much of the support for the bond referendum stems from a recent report compiled by a legislative commission, which indicated the need for $6.2 billion in school construction during the next five years. According to the referendum, Triangle area school districts are expected to receive more than $250 million of the bond money-$22,438,368 of which will be used for public schools in Durham.
The funds, however, will not be handed over automatically to the school systems. Each district must first spend a specific amount of money on new public construction, said Ben Johnson, director of school support for the state superintendent's office, adding that the exact figure will be determined by the state legislature. Once this target spending level has been reached, he continued, the state will appropriate the designated bond money to the school system. Any construction taking place since October 1992 also will be counted toward the target amount, Johnson said.
In order to generate the capital needed for new school construction, bonds will be sold openly on the market to various investors. The money raised by the bonds will then be proportioned according to the North Carolina Tenure Assessment Plan, which is a list of urgent projects previously identified by the State Board of Education.
"The State will open up the sale of bonds in the spring," Johnson said. "The bonds will then be sold on the New York Stock Exchange and will be open to all investors, not just North Carolina voters."
In an effort to distribute funds efficiently, the superintendent's office will request from school districts a list of new projects and their projected costs, said Gerald Knott, section chief for school planning at the state superintendent's office.
"After gathering this information, we will compile it on computer," Knott said. "The law says that we can only give out $450 million every 12 months. We will distribute the money over four years."
In Durham, officials have already submitted three plans to the State Board of Education, all of which outline plans for elementary schools.
"Our population is growing most rapidly at the elementary level," said Michael Mulheirn, assistant superintendent for facilities and development for Durham Public Schools. "We have some elementary schools with over 800 children in them. What we want to do is get those numbers down around 650 to 700."
Plans to alleviate overcrowding include the possibility of rebuilding Hope Valley Elementary School, Mulheirn said, which burned down last year and cost the district around $8 million. Other plans, he said, include either building two new elementary schools and renovating older schools or building three new schools without renovating or expanding other facilities.
Officials hope to start improvement projects as early as this summer. Meanwhile, Durham school administrators are exalting in a victory that could mean vast new improvements for their district.
"I think it validates what we see working in the schools," said Caroline Rideout, principal of Club Boulevard Elementary School. "It is a wonderful opportunity for parents to support the schools. I think parents know their children need to go to school in buildings that are up to '90s standards."
Although Durham's elementary schools are expected to receive most of the money generated for the city by the bonds, officials at Durham middle schools hope that some of the funds will be used to improve their facilities.
"Hopefully, the school board will give some of the money to the middle schools, because middle schools have not received any improvements in a long time," said Nancy Hester, principal at Carrington Middle School. "They have been pumping up the elementary and high schools recently with new buildings and schools. We, at Carrington, need some major improvements."
Hester cited the need for a safer driveway, a larger building to accommodate teachers-some of whom are currently running classrooms in single-wide trailers-and a larger cafeteria to replace the school's elementary school-sized facility.
In response to proposed middle school improvements, Mulheirn said that although middle school facilities are slightly outdated, room still remains for student body growth. He added that because the elementary schools are so overcrowded, their needs will be met first.
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