I don’t see the N&R’s story on last night’s Guilford County commissioners’ meeting posted anywhere, but the print edition did have a a somewhat detailed story highlighting the decision to postpone a vote on COPs for Eastern Guilford High School:
Commissioners on Thursday were supposed to consider pursuing a $53 million loan to rebuild the school, but ended up putting it off until May 3. Some commissioners say the loan is the best way to raise money for Eastern, but others want to tap leftover money from the 2003 bond referendum.
In a two-page letter sent to commissioners’ Chairman Paul Gibson this week, Superintendent Terry Grier urged Gibson to push forward with the certificates plan. Grier’s memo said the schools had just $31 million in available bond money that hadn’t been spent or wasn’t bound in contracts, and that the money is already planned for other schools projects.
But the article doesn’t highlight the controversy surrounding the decision to postpone the vote. I got in on the middle of the discussion when commissioners were criticizing Gibson for pulling the issue from the agenda. Why was it pulled? Because Gibson didn’t have the votes to pass the COPs.
Commissioner Steve Arnold had some choice words not only for Gibson but for County Manager David McNeill:
This issue wasn’t handled appropriately from the beginning. It’s on the agenda, Mr. Chairman, and you set the agenda, and it was on the agenda to pass COPs tonight, and the reason it was pulled from the agenda is you learned there wasn’t the votes to pass COPS tonight. You put it off for further discussion, which is great. I’m in favor of that. On the other hand, had all the other issues been dealt with appropriately, there wouldn’t have been any concern on the part of myself or any other county commissioners about financing options for Eastern Guilford High School. We all want to see that school rebuilt. But this is something the manager needs to handle right before it ever gets on our desk, and when it gets on our desk, it’s simple, it’s pro forma, everybody’s in agreement, it happens. That’s the way it needs to happen, and I think the chairman and the rest of the board have been ill-served tonight by our staff.
School board chairman Alan Duncan told the N&R that the delay wouldn’t alter the construction schedule for the new school. But what happens if Gibson doesn’t get the votes to issue COPs in May? Then where will GCS get the money to pay for Eastern?
You really have to wonder if, between the county commissioners and the school system, this issue isn’t going to get screwed up. Parents, teachers and students at Eastern should be concerned that they’ll be waiting for a new high school a lot longer than they thought.
