Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Skip Alston has a message for the voters of Guilford County: Thank you, thank you, thank you. Alston made his effusive remarks at the Thursday, May 19 Board of Commissioners meeting to all those who helped approve the largest education bond in the history of the state – a $1.7 billion school bond referendum to be used for school repairs and new construction.

“My understanding is that it’s the largest school bond that has ever been passed in North Carolina,” Alston said at the meeting, “and some say it’s probably the largest school bond across this country – but definitely in the state.”

“Hats off to our citizens for making it happen,” he said.

He added that it took the unity of the supporters to get it done.

“All of us came together and a lot of you said yes to a $1.7 billion bond package for our schools,” he said. “That’s amazing and we ought to give ourselves a round of applause, a round for the citizens. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

The chairman also said he wished to thank the local media for going on the school tours that the commissioners held nearly every Wednesday in the months leading up to the election. Alston said that, if it wasn’t for the media being on those tours and broadcasting the poor school conditions into the living rooms of county voters each week, he doesn’t think the $1.7 billion referendum would have passed.

“People saw that and they came forward and said, ‘We have to do something about it.’” Alston said. “A lot of our citizens hadn’t been to our schools in the last 30 or 40 years.”

He also thanked the community volunteers who led the effort to pass the bond referendum.

“Now we can get our schools back where they should be,” Alston said.