The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board had another of its tiffs last night, but one with a very interesting and telling outcome. Board member Larry Gauvreau tried to get support for building schools and was shot down each time:
The heated debate came as Gauvreau pushed for certificates of participation. His three proposals, ranging from $138 million to $244 million, would borrow money for new schools in the suburbs.
“We don’t have any seats,” he said. “You can’t sit there, with anyone’s faith, and suggest that we’re not going to do this. This is crazy.”
But the board voted 7-2 against Gauvreau’s proposals, saying it will not spend money without voter approval.
More importantly, Gauvreau vowed to continue to force the board to vote down school-building proposals. A majority on the board, along with the CMS leadership, evidently thinks a different $450 million proposal as part of a $2 billion, 10-year construction plan is really what voters want.
I’m forced to conclude that board vice-chair Kit Cramer, for one, wants to stall the process down until the CMS task force releases its recommendations, no doubt in the belief that will help convince the public that change is coming to CMS and that the outfit that couldn’t be trusted with $450 million before can now. Or something.
And, as is becoming something of a pattern, none of this very important public business merited a mention in the local daily newspaper today.
