I am not a fan of transporting school kids hither and yon all over the county for social engineering experiments. However, I might be persuaded if this report is accurate — according to WPTF’s Morning News today, Wake County’s school system in contemplating a land purchase at $150,000 per acre to build a school to accommodate residential growth in northwest Wake County.
I couldn’t verify that number online so it may not be correct. However, assuming it is, bus transportation may be a better alternative. According to the Department of Public Instruction’s website, the state pays an annual average of $341 per student for transportation; in Wake County, the final cost is $533. That means for each acre of dirt and grass the county plans to buy, they could put 300 to 400 kids on the bus for a year. For the cost of the whole property, they could afford to transport those kids their entire K-12 career.
And somehow, if land in the neighborhood is that expensive, I suspect the families that can afford the new houses out there probably have other ways to get the kids to school. There must be a better place to build a school than this.
