Wake County Public Schools is expected to experience a $14 million revenue shortfall for the coming fiscal year, even with 10 percent spending reductions. The county appears likely to delay some construction projects due to the recession, too.
All fine and good. WCPSS is tightening its belt, like the rest of us. But before you shed too many tears, consider what the school board did during the good times.
As documented by numerous reports in the media, the WCPSS school board made a habit of overpaying drastically for school construction projects.
Rolesville: The school board backed paying $75,000-per acre for land for a new middle school in Rolesville. An appraiser hired by the school district said the land was worth only $48,000, but the school board still supported the original deal. Rolesville town leaders stepped in and negotiated down the price on behalf of the school system.
Apex: The school board agreed to pay $8.7 million for a tract of land southwest of Apex that an investment company, Apex Olive LLC, bought 10 months prior for $4.1 million. (In fairness, school board member Horace Tart told the N&O that Apex Olive had finalized the price for the land three years prior but didn?t buy it until spring 2007. Whether that explains the doubling of value is up to the taxpayers of Wake County.)
The N&O has also reported a connection between Apex Olive and Jim Goodnight, CEO of SAS Institute in Cary. Goodnight?s wife, Ann, was co-chairwoman of a campaign committee that pushed the $970 million school bond in 2006. The Goodnights are strong supporters of the current school board?s policies and goals. Goodnight pledged to return to taxpayers any profit he made on the deal.
Conclusion: If the school system had approached these deals like a business rather than a bloated government bureaucracy with wads of cash to throw down a rathole, the financial pinch today would not be so dire.
