Commissioners Approve School Bonds

Yesterday was a big day at the County Commissioners meeting.

Interim School Superintendent Dr. Michael Priddy was present to request help in fixing safety and maintenance problems at Bertie High School.

There is a special program called QZAB bonds that lets us make improvements to our schools at a significant reduction in cost to the county. The request was to use the $2 million balance in our QZAB bonds to repair the roof at Bertie High School. QZAB bonds are a great process to provide money for schools at a fraction of traditional bond costs.

A great deal of thought has been spent in making this an effective use of our tax dollars. While fixing the roof it will be changed to the new "slant roof" concept that reduces maintenance costs for the long haul. There will also be some attention to heating and air conditioning where the costs can be effective in reducing roof maintenance, since the heating and air conditioning units are placed on the roof.

The request by the Superintendent was made with awareness that the Board of Education (BOE ) must also act for this to move forward. That request will be made at the BOE meeting tonight.

An issue that arose was the long term desire of some in Bertie County to get a brand new high school. Unfortunately that is looking more and more unlikely. The latest state plan for school bonds is giving priority to high growth counties and Bertie County with its loss of population fares poorly in that contest. It will be ( in the best of all worlds) at least 7 years before there is any chance to get enough bond money for a new high school. A likely scenario is that it will be closer to the 15 year time frame of the QZAB bonds before money can be obtained. That argues we cannot wait to start fixing some of the critical problems that have been allowed to worsen due to lack of maintenance of our current facility. It is time to start working on reasonable plans to take care of our children within realistic expectations for money. Especially money that can be obtained cost effectively. That is why the QZAB bonds to fix Bertie High make so much sense.

Another issue that will be researched is the suggestion by a Mr. Ben Mathews of the State DPI that there may be ways to free J.P. Law and Askewville Elementary schools from their current bond encumbrance. If so that would allow us to sell these two facilities and generate money to fix problems with facilities that are being used. It would also eliminate the waste of resources maintaining and protecting from vandalism facilities that are closed. There is no surety that he is right but it is worth checking out. The County Manager and Attorney were requested to investigate the suggested course of action. Turning these unused assets into cash is a smart idea.

C.G. White will be another idle building shortly. There are two things that can be done with that. Using it for other government purposes could be desirable but that will cost money and not turn this asset into cash we need so badly. The most important use in my estimation is make sure that we turn this asset into cash to fix some of the other problems at the high school.

Issues that need to be addressed at our high school include safety of athletic facilities, new doors, new windows, updated electrical, heating and air conditioning. We need to focus on getting these things fixed expeditiously. We need our school personnel focused on teaching . . . not focused on new buildings. That is what our children need. An education.

Lets maintain our current facilities and focus on education.

Using these QZAB bonds to fix our high school is an excellent decision.