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State School Building Tab: Huge

Posted on: Friday, 7 April 2006, 21:00 CDT

By Todd Silberman, The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.

Apr. 6--State education leaders got a glimpse Wednesday of the same kind of big-dollar projections for school construction that have become old news in Wake County.

School systems statewide will face construction needs totaling nearly $10 billion over the next five years, according to the results of a survey presented to the State Board of Education. Enrollment statewide is expected to reach about 1.5 million by 2014, an increase of more than 200,000 students from 2005 levels.

But board members said they suspect the cost projection underestimates the real needs of the state's 115 school districts, many of which have been unable to keep up with building new schools and maintaining existing ones.

"This number is probably just a fraction of what is needed in that marketplace," said John Tate, a state board member from Charlotte, where the school leaders say $1 billion for construction is needed during the next five years.

Voters there defeated a $427 million bond measure in November. Since 2000-01, school districts have added 1,500 trailer classrooms to make room for more students. More than 7,000 trailers are being used statewide.

Proceeds from the new state lottery will help counties fund some school construction costs, but the biggest share will remain the responsibility of the counties. The lottery will raise an estimated $160.5 million a year for school construction, allocated to counties on the basis of a sliding scale that accounts for enrollment and local tax effort. Wake school leaders expect about $9 million of that, although the county's projected cost for school construction during the next four years tops $1 billion.

"The lottery is not going to take care of this," Tate said. "The governor's plan only helps."

Board members didn't offer suggestions for raising additional money but did say the real needs should be disclosed. They called for a more detailed plan for the next five to 10 years.

"We need to take a comprehensive look at the needs across the state," said board Chairman Howard Lee. "That would give us a solid base to hold discussions with the legislature."

Board members also proposed that the state reclaim its authority to set and enforce standards for school construction. Since the mid-1990s, the state has provided only recommendations for school-building plans, including classroom sizes and other features.

Wake Superintendent Bill McNeal, who holds an advisory seat on the board, said he would welcome required standards from the state.

"There's a relationship between facilities and retaining and recruiting teachers," McNeal said. "There ought to be standards. Absent that, we will have inferior schools that won't allow us to do the things we need to do."

L. Stanley Haywood, a school board member from Asheboro who serves as an adviser to the state board, also said that local boards and school systems would benefit from a stronger state role in construction issues, including specific standards.

"County commissioners would be more inclined to make better decisions," Haywood said. "We need better standards."

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Copyright (c) 2006, The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.

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Source: The News & Observer

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