Anyone who’s been to the supermarket or filled up their car with gas recently knows that the prices of just about everything are going up, up and away.
The impact of the Iran war on fuel, fertilizer and materials prices is making matters worse, and totally out-of-control government spending at the local, state and federal levels isn’t helping either.
With inflation remaining elevated and refusing to go away, it should come as no surprise that the school projects promised to Guilford County residents four years ago are consuming the available bond money rapidly.
That’s one reason the county won’t complete all the school projects initially planned for the $2 billion, and it’s also why Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Skip Alston is already talking about the need for another massive school bond referendum in the coming years.
The debates about school buildings are separate from the heated debates school and county officials are having over what school leaders say is a lack of sufficient money for school operations. School officials felt slighted by the commissioners in June when the county adopted its new fiscal 2026-2027 budget that took effect July 1.
Now, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners is being asked to add nearly $40 million to the Erwin Montessori Elementary School replacement project, bringing the total authorized cost of the project to just over $51 million.
At its Thursday, Aug. 6 meeting, the board will consider increasing the Erwin Montessori project ordinance by $39,476,006 to provide the remaining funding needed to complete construction of the replacement school.
The project currently has an approved budget of $11,555,614.
After the commissioners approve the request, the total project ordinance will rise to $51,031,620.
The Erwin Montessori replacement school is being built at the site of the former Archer Elementary School.
According to a July 30 memo from Guilford County Schools Superintendent Whitney Oakley, Deputy Superintendent of Business and Operations Julius Monk and Chief Financial Officer Tyler Beck, the money already approved for the project is enough to cover design, demolition, early-release construction work and the advance purchase of materials with long lead times.
The additional appropriation would provide the money needed for the remaining construction work and would allow the project to proceed through completion.
The Guilford County Board of Education approved the latest guaranteed maximum price for the remaining construction work on Tuesday, July 28, and is now asking the commissioners to make the corresponding changes to the county’s school capital project ordinances.
The full $39.5 million increase won’t come from savings on other school construction projects.
Guilford County Schools has identified a combined $3,287,655 in unused funding from two recently completed projects. The school system proposes transferring $1,186,695 from the completed Claxton Elementary School project and $2,100,960 from the completed Peeler-Hampton Elementary School project to Erwin Montessori.
The remaining $36,188,351 would come from unused capacity in the county’s $2 billion school bond program.
The proposed amendment would reduce the final Claxton Elementary project ordinance from $50,285,406 to $49,098,711.
It would reduce the Peeler-Hampton project ordinance from $69,375,621 to $67,274,661.
The county’s paperwork refers to that project as the New Visual and Performing Arts School, although the school is now operating as Peeler-Hampton Elementary.
Both schools have opened, and school officials said that the remaining balances in those project accounts are no longer needed to complete the work.
The Erwin Montessori project ordinance originally included $8,372,058 in general obligation bond funding. The commissioners added $3,183,556 in June 2025, raising the current total to $11,555,614.
The latest amendment would add $39,476,006 and bring the total authorized project budget to $51,031,620.
The $51 million total represents the full authorized project budget – not simply the price of the latest construction contract: It includes earlier design, demolition and preliminary construction expenses along with the remaining work necessary to complete the school.
The commissioners and the school board jointly developed the facilities master now plan being funded through two large bond referendums approved by county voters.
Voters approved a $300 million school bond referendum in 2020 and a much larger $1.7 billion bond referendum in 2022, for a combined $2 billion in borrowing authority for school construction and renovation projects. Paying that money back will cost over $3.2 billion.
The Erwin Montessori appropriation is listed as new business on the commissioners’ Aug. 6 agenda rather than as part of the consent agenda, giving commissioners the chance to discuss the $39.5 million increase before voting.
School system staff members are expected to attend the commissioners meeting in order to answer questions about the project, its construction budget and the proposed transfers from the completed Claxton and Peeler-Hampton
