Commissioners back grant application; here’s what it means for Tar Heel Middle, Plain View Elementary

ELIZABETHTOWN — Bladen County Schools have the backing of county commissioners in hopes to replace Tar Heel Middle School with new construction.

The board voted 5-3 in favor of backing a funding application that requires a 3-to-1 match from the county. The called meeting on Thursday was necessary because the application was due Friday.

In addition to Tar Heel, the school would also house Plain View Elementary students. Both schools are aged and facing significant maintenance costs annually.

The Needs-Based Public School Capital Fund grant package can be up to $22 million, with the county agreeing to supply $7 million. Bladen County, designated Tier 1 as among the most in need, qualifies for the maximum grant. Early estimates are the building to house up to 700 kindergarten through eighth grade students will be at or near that cost; if a school is built at higher cost, the county and district would fund the difference.

Chairman Ray Britt, Michael Cogdell, Dr. Ophelia Munn-Goins, Arthur Bullock and Robby Priest were in favor and Republicans Charles Ray Peterson, David Gooden and Daniel Dowless voted against it. Britt was the lone Republican in support; all four of the board’s Democrats favored the item.

Republican commissioner Ashley Trivette was absent.

Superintendent Dr. Robert Taylor joined the meeting by telephone, and three members of his staff attended. Among them Russell Worley, the director of maintenance, answered questions from the board and gave an additional presentation on what shape the school district is in overall with regard to facilities.

Although the process for this grant application has been in the works for months, the superintendent and four of the commissioners — half of the highest level of responsibility for the application — will be gone from their positions by the first of the year. Taylor has accepted a position as state deputy superintendent; Trivette chose a year ago not to seek reelection; Dowless lost in the March primary; Priest was serving in the absence of his late father Russell Priest until a new election could be held to choose a replacement for the rest of the unexpired term; and Gooden was defeated in the general election last month.

While the building capacity is expected to be 700, moving Plain View students into a building with Tar Heel students will impact about 550. Peterson questioned the discrepancy, Worley indicated it gave the district flexibility with other attendance lines, and Peterson said he worried the district would soon look to close Dublin Primary.

Dowless and Gooden didn’t voice any particular objections prior to the vote. Cogdell, Munn-Goins and Bullock had the most questions, and Cogdell’s move to approve was seconded by Munn-Goins.

Central to discussion on the matter was financing and the debt soon ending for building West Bladen and East Bladen high schools two decades ago. What began as a debt service of $2.1 million a year has gradually been reduced according to the terms, and this June a final payment of about $850,000 will be made.

Worley said at 15 years, the $7 million cost for the county will be about $560,000 a year. Taylor explained that part of the grant rules are that for the first five years, the district will not get lottery funds as it does annually, which is about $200,000 each year.

The 10th-year superintendent said that loss is overcome when considering the roughly $900,000 annually in debt service that will be freed up — about $4.5 million over the five years with no lottery funds — plus an existing $1.8 million lottery fund balance.

Greg Martin, the county manager, corrected a couple of items in the district’s report and Taylor agreed on each point. Martin also suggested the $22 million cost of building a school may be low given current capital costs. Taylor said for what is desired, it’s in the ballpark but again agreed with Martin saying the number could go up or down.

As the time to vote came, Bullock asked about improved student performance related to environment. Peterson said Dublin Primary has a very vibrant elementary school community and was concerned it could be disrupted if attendance lines change.

“I don’t see how we cannot vote for it,” Britt said in expressing his support.

Worley estimated building costs at $200 per square foot. If built, it would be directly behind the existing school. A septic fill area would be in the deep left corner of the parcel not far from athletics fields, and the existing structure would be torn down and replaced with parking. The auxiliary road from Tar Heel Ferry Road to the athletic fields area would frame the backside of the new building, as currently envisioned.

“We’ve got to decide what we’re going to do,” Worley said of the troubles at Tar Heel Middle. “We’ve got a lot of issues there. It was built with a mortar and block foundation, with plaster inside. It has moisture penetration problems. We have spent a lot of money on the floor, about 10 years ago, but it is still a problem. We have heat and air issues.”

Worley said to fix rather than build, the cost would be about $3 million. Tar Heel Middle, at 14888 N.C. 87, costs the district an estimated $200,000 to $250,000 annually in maintenance; Plain View, at 1963 Chicken Foot Road about 4 miles away, is about $80,000 and is due for another $150,000 in roofing.

Plain View also doesn’t have an auxiliary type of building, a place where students can gather in inclement weather, have formal asssembly, or be comfortably distanced such as is needed for lunchroom areas due to the pandemic.

Elizabethtown Primary, Bladenboro Primary and Bladen Lakes also do not have such facilities that are on the county’s “wish list.” By means of giving an example for their need, Worley said Elizabethtown Primary — the county’s largest elementary population — starts feeding students lunch at 10:15 a.m.; school release is about 3 p.m.

The application filed does not guarantee Tar Heel Middle School and Plain View Elementary School will be replaced, a point Taylor didn’t emphasize Thursday but has made multiple times before. Applications are reviewed based on priorities in the 2016 law instituted by the Republican-led General Assembly to help disadvantaged rural areas. Among those priorities are the ability to generate revenue, high debt-to-tax revenue ratio, and the extent a project addresses critical deficiencies serving current and future students.

The 2019 awards placed an emphasis on projects that could begin construction inside of 12 months. The state Department of Public Instruction, where Taylor will have a supervisory role beginning in January, handles the decision on applications.

There were no questions from commissioners, and no mention by school officials, on when construction could be started and completed if the grant application is approved.