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The Guilford County school board's $457 million bond proposal promises to start lively discussions.

"There's a whole litany of questions we want to ask," Commissioner Kirk Perkins said Wednesday.

The school board approved the list of projects Tuesday. Commissioners must decide by January whether to put the measure on the ballot in May. They won't be an easy sell, but voters could be even tougher. That's the time of year they'll be hearing about annual city and county property tax increases. Some are bound to be wary of more spending.

Yet, the need for new schools and improved facilities is obvious. With enrollment growth exceeding an average of 1,000 a year, projects funded by previous bond packages — $200 million in 2000 and $300 million in 2003 — haven't met the demand.

"I know we need schools," Commissioner Linda Shaw said. "I know we need schools desperately, still."

But questions come up about costs and what residents can afford.

Perkins noted the county is "just getting into the meat of paying for some of the last bonds."

Debt service limits the money available for operational expenses, which escalate each year.

Then there's the issue of how much it costs to build schools.

"My biggest question is why is it costing us so much more than some of the other counties?" Shaw asked.

Pages of variables make actual comparisons difficult, but a study for Wake County completed in April placed Guilford County on top of a list of peer systems in total project cost per student for middle and high schools, and lower only than Wake County for elementary schools. The other systems were Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Forsyth County, Clark County, Nev. (Las Vegas), Orange County, Fla. (Orlando) and Gwinnett County, Ga. (Suwanee).

Some systems save money by building project labs instead of traditional libraries/media centers, not installing full-service kitchens and creating multipurpose spaces instead of separate gyms, auditoriums and cafeterias.

Some systems also stretch the number of productive classroom hours by utilizing year-round schedules.

Guilford County built Northern High School large enough to absorb future growth and with green technology. Those approaches added to its cost but might produce savings later. Maybe that's a smart strategy that should govern future building.

Also wise would be far-sighted planning that steers residential growth to areas where existing schools have available capacity or where it makes the most sense, because of land costs or other factors, to place new ones.

When so much money is at stake for facilities that are so important to the community's future, asking a litany of questions is a good idea.