• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Needs Grow Amid Funding Debate

Posted on: Monday, 10 October 2005, 21:00 CDT

By Diane Mouskourie, The Daily News, Jacksonville, N.C.

Oct. 9--Call it an educated guess.

That's what many Onslow County voters will do on Nov. 8 when they decide whether to approve or reject a $90 million bond referendum that will pay for one new school and fund improvement projects on 35 campuses throughout the county.

School administrators and teachers say the new school and renovations are a must to deal with rampant county growth and an expected influx of students from Camp Lejeune.

"Our county is in desperate need," said Colon Ballance, director of District 8B of the North Carolina Association of Educators. "We are behind the eight-ball. At our school (Hunters Creek Middle) alone, we have 18 mobile (classrooms), and we had five the day we opened 10 years ago."

Opponents, however, are quick to point out that the school system recently completed projects from a $40 million county bond referendum in 1994. Another bond for $56 million was issued by the state in 1996 for new school construction. Over the past 10 years, Onslow County has gained five new elementary schools (Southwest, Sand Ridge, Hunters Creek, Carolina Forest and Richlands Primary); one new middle school (Jacksonville Commons); and one new high school (Northside).

Opponents claim that more-responsible budgeting by the school system could solve many of its problems without increasing the burden on county taxpayers.

Bill Steiert, a retiree with no children in the school system, said he would not mind supporting the bond. However, he believes there has been a lot of extravagant building, he said.

"Just look at Northside High School, at its roofline and wings it has," he said. "Things like that serve no purpose. It may look pretty, but it's unnecessary especially in this area that is susceptible to strong winds and major storms.

"I just want the new schools to be built sensibly. I don't mind paying my taxes to build them, but let's make sure the money is spent wisely."

Nearly every school in the county has some mobile classroom units because the building's classrooms are full. If the bond passes, the school system would build one new elementary school in the Gum Branch Road area to relieve overcrowding at Summersill, Northwoods, Jacksonville Commons and Parkwood elementary schools. It would also provide funding to purchase land in the Richlands area for a new school in anticipation of growth there.

Other schools would gain anywhere from one or two new classrooms to six or eight new classrooms. New classrooms would be built at 14 out of 19 elementary schools, three out of eight middle schools and six out of seven high schools. The number of classrooms would depend on construction costs, said Jeff Hudson, assistant superintendent of auxiliary services.

Additional money would be spent on improvements and upgrades in technology at nearly every school.

Pam Thomas, the former director of media/technology for the school system before she retired in 2004 and became a member of the Board of Education, said many classrooms -- especially at the elementary level -- have a limited number of computers for student use.

"The bond money would pay for many new computer stations, purchase computers, update switches and routers, and a large portion would pay for security measures on the network to keep intruders out," she said. "We want to get each school an equal number of computers to reduce the student-to-computer ratio."

Thomas equates a lack of computers with a hypothetical lack of textbooks. If a teacher has 30 students and only one textbook, she said, how well would that work?

"If teachers are going to use the computer as an actively involved learning tool, then they have to have more computers available for their students," Thomas said.

In addition, the bond money would alleviate problems associated with outdated heating and air-conditioning equipment at several older schools. Those buildings need more energy-efficient and cost-effective systems, Hudson said.

When Hudson talks about the projects contained in the proposed referendum, he's not talking about solving a problem that's expected down the road. To him and other Onslow County administrators and teachers, the future is now.

"Our schools are already out of room," Hudson said. "You just need to look around Onslow County and see all the new houses, apartments and condos going up."

Even though Onslow County has built seven new schools over the past decade, it's still not enough, Hudson said. Mobile classrooms have helped create a little more space -- there are now 191 on the county's 35 campuses. But now, it looks as if the supply of mobile classrooms is being exceeded by the demand. Some campuses have reached the maximum number of portables allowed by zoning laws.

Hudson said student growth has averaged 360 more pupils each year in the past three years. Overall enrollment is at an all-time high of 22,949 students. That's 720 more students than last year.

Those increases don't include a reported influx of more than 3,000 troops at Camp Lejeune over the next few years. Those troops are expected to bring an estimated 1,000 school-age dependents who will need to be placed in county schools, Hudson said.

Camp Lejeune is building new housing, but it's simply swapping out old ones for new ones, said 1st Lt. Clark Carpenter, spokesman for the base. In other words, there won't be any net increase. "There are no plans to build any new housing," he said.

Fueling the overcrowded conditions is an unprecedented building boom. Over the past year, county planners have approved subdivisions with more than 2,200 lots.

That does not include Williamsburg Plantation, which includes several smaller subdivisions. John Koenig, a developer, has already sold about 408 of the 1,623 lots in his master plan, said Rhonda Parker, planning administrator for the city of Jacksonville.

The city approved annexation of a 12.9 acres owned by Carolina Forest to build The Village, a project that includes 78 proposed townhouses. In December, the council approved a special-use permit and site plan for a 180-unit complex on another 21.23 acres for The Village at Carolina Forest.

"The needs of our system are real, and they are here," Hudson said. "If the bond passes, we would have the most economical method of financing new school construction."

Without the bond, county taxpayers would end up paying higher interest rates to finance construction, he said -- and they would still have to figure out where to put all the new students.

Ballance, a member of the Onslow County Association of Educators, said most of his organization's 600 to 700 members support the bond referendum. For years, promises were made to remove some of the mobiles at Hunters Creek Middle School, but the number continues to grow each year, he said.

And, Ballance said, some schools are already way behind the technology curve.

"We need all of that yesterday," he said. "The only way we can catch up â?¦ is to pass the bond."

Scott Chadwick, a parent of two children including a 6-year-old who attends Swansboro Elementary, is chairman of the Friends of Education in Onslow County, a group of about 20 concerned parents and retired educators promoting passage of the referendum.

"It's purely economics, and the numbers are telling," Chadwick said. "Just look at the number of students enrolling versus the size and number of school facilities available.

"The state does not pay for construction of school facilities, but at the same time the state does mandate class size," Chadwick said. "With classroom reduction, you need more space."

But not everyone is entirely comfortable with the county assuming more debt, especially if it means property taxes will pay for it.

"It's just a bad time to be asking folks for more money," said Bill Allen, who lives in Jacksonville. "I know we need to do more to help our children, but most working people are pushed to the limit already."

Allen, a retired Marine who owns two small businesses, said he knows there are others out there who believe as he does.

"If the folks up in Raleigh would cut us some slack, maybe we could do this," he said. "At some point, we need to say enough is enough."

There are other ways to raise money, Allen said -- namely by saving some.

"Maybe if officials would cut back 5 percent every quarter and save that money, or place it back into the general fund for use later," he said.

Then, maybe, residents here could afford to take care of the bond, he said.

"If we could only believe what the politicians tell us."

-----

To see more of The Daily News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.jacksonvilledailynews.com.

Copyright (c) 2005, The Daily News, Jacksonville, N.C.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: The Daily News

More News in this Category