N&O - School board chief backs school bond vote

[Gene Galin]

School board chief backs school bond vote
As long as there's time to prepare

Leah Friedman, Staff Writer

Read the entire story at http://www.newsobserver.com/133/story/478008.html

PITTSBORO - The chairman of the county school board said Tuesday he's OK with letting voters decide whether northeastern Chatham County gets a new high school, now that they won't be voting on it this fall.

The Chatham County commissioners decided Monday to fund a new 1,000-student high school through a bond referendum.

No date has been set for the bond referendum, but it won't be this November. School leaders requested a delay, saying they need more time to drum up support for the bond, especially in the western part of the county,

Commissioners Chairman Bunkey Morgan had suggested the county pay for the new $44.5 million high school with certificates of participation, a type of funding that does not require voter approval. The county is using the certificates to build a new elementary school in Siler City.

[gonewest]

And it will get support ONLY if it includes the things some of the other older schools need...like a gym for Silk Hope and Northwood,  renovations to Horton and JS Waters and Northwood and basically they need to throw everyone a bone, because everyone needs something.

If it is ONLY a bond with a high school for the NORTH CHATHAM area....no way...no way I'll support it even though I have children at overcrowded Northwood.  It's simply not fair.

Meg

[Chathamoriginal]

Gonewest, That is exactly what I told school board members when they were on their dog and pony show tour a couple years ago. I stated that the needs being met for the other schools would determine whether the bond passed. I was asked by a parent at N. Chatham, "You would hold N. Chatham hostage for getting a dollar for your school???" To which I was highly offended for I would never take away the needs of ANY child. However, the school board needs to know that there are many needs throughout the system that can be met through a bond proposal the populus would support. Their figures are too ambiguous and artificially inflated and simply from a PR stand point will fail. When a parent in an area other than N Chatham sees their school with obvious needs...when they see 45 MILLION DOLLARS to be spent yet their school receives NOTHING (while their taxes still go up to pay for the nothing they have received) this will fail and I too will campaign against it. This school board and this superintendant (who is driving every detail of this by the way) need to wake up.

[whoopdedo1]

It seems the only way to get that message through is to make sure there are THREE new members on the school board in November.  The history of this bond idea is not good if you read all the posts anout it. 
Looks like it was really messed up by Deb McManus during her time as school board chair and board spokeswoman then she and Dr. Hart fouled it further in front of the commishes.  What figures those two threw around were unbelievable if the reports in the papers and their comments at the board meetings were correct.  It just seems they asked for a bond and had no idea what was in it.

Clark is taking the fall for their bumbling it looks like.  With his leadership and THREE new board members, maybe the board will come up with a reasonable plan for a change.

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