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The Chalkboard

Southeast star, a broken promise?

What constitutes a promise and how much should it cost to keep it? Those are two questions that have been weighing on the minds of school board members for several months now as they attempt to plan for a new elementary school in the southeast.

Two groups of southeast residents have lobbied the school board during recent meetings to build the school where they believe it was promised. And the school district held a community meeting a few weeks ago to hear more concerns from families and make their argument. Here’s a link to that story.

The issue centers around a map included with material promoting the 2008 school bonds. That map had a star on it in the southeast that many in that area of the county took as a promise of where the new elementary school would be built. But district officials say they got sticker shock when they attempted to buy land in that area.

So the district’s looking in areas beyond the star, outside of where the southeast community believes they were promised a school. I should note school system officials say the school would still alleviate crowding at southeast area elementary schools.

Southeast folks are less than thrilled about the issue.

I’m writing an article this week about this and would love to hear from families in the area. Call me at 373-7351 or email me at brian.ewing@news-record.com.

But my questions for the blog are these, should taxpayers shell out more for land to keep this promise, is a star on bond material even a promise, should the school be built where it’s cheapest?

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Posted by J. Brian Ewing on Monday, October 19, 2009 at 11:34 am

What do you think?

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stafford5465

October 19, 2009 - 12:23 pm EDT

Land is a relatively small part of the cost of a new school. The most important factor is convenience for the families the school will serve. Sometimes the cheapest land caused big trouble. A Northern High School, we bought the cheapest. Then we paid a 1,000,000 extra because of rock on the site. That was about 20,000 extra per acre. The BOE should advertise publicly for the land. Sometimes owners don't won't to deal with real estate agents that are trying to list the property. There is plenty of property south of I-40/85 that could be used.

Jeff Deal

October 20, 2009 - 9:53 am EDT

Most public entities seem to struggle with the task of land acquisition; partly due to our typically backward state statutes that limit their latitude.

Maybe one of our local foundations would be willing to act as an intermediary, retaining someone who's used to assembling large tracts for the private sector and passing along the resulting tract at cost to GCS.

EGParent

October 23, 2009 - 4:02 pm EDT

Brian,
The land may be cheaper on the other side of the highway, but have you considered the cost of transportation and busing. The school should be built as reasonably close to the population it is being built to serve.

Is two miles from Eastern Guilford going to serve the students of Southeast well?

How far will the commute be daily...
How long will the bus rides be?
How much will the gas cost?

I can testify that busing kids does not contribute to their success in school or to the general economic health of
our school system...Eastern has students riding 40 minutes one way before the first student gets off the bus....
This is a ridiculous waste of money...busing in Guilford County needs to end and new schools should be built
in the center of the area it is being built to serve..

stafford5465

October 23, 2009 - 4:34 pm EDT

The reason why some students ride 40 miles has little to do with the location and everything to do with districting by the BOE. It is easier to do nothing than make the corrections that need to be made to ensure that all children go to a local school that is convenient.