Last year in October, when it became clear that the Guilford County Board of Commissioners would put a $1.7 billion school bond referendum on the May primary ballot this year, Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Skip Alston began touring schools in the county with the most problems to highlight school facilities’ needs and help convince voters to pass that bond referendum.
This week, those tours come to an end, and now Alston and the other commissioners backing the school bonds will just cross their fingers and hope for passage.
Wednesday, May 11 will mark the final school tour – as always, with the media there to document and report the problems in the aging school.
Alston, along with other commissioners who wish to go, will tour High Point Andrews High School at 1920 McGuinn Dr. and meet with Principal Marcus Gause, where they’ll discuss the full renovation of the school that’s proposed as part of upcoming school bond projects.
On social media and in conversations across the county, interested parties have been arguing about whether the giant bond referendum is the right way for the county to fund needed school repairs.
Some, like Alston, argue that the schools actually need more than $1.7 billion – even though voters approved a $300 million school bond referendum two years ago. Others, such as former Guilford County Commissioner Alan Branson, who’s seeking the at large seat on the board this year, argue that it’s too much money to trust the schools with at one time, and also argue that the 20-year payback on the loan will be a severe burden on taxpayers for years to come.
On the night of Tuesday, May 17, it should be clear which side of the question the majority of voters in the county fall on.
Before you vote them another cent, require an accounting of all the $$$ we’ve given them in recent years.
Then remember the 2 million of our tax dollars thecounty commissioners gave away without taxpayer consent, while effectively raising our property taxes 30% in these economic hard times. Seniors and others on fixed incomes cannot afford any more demands on our budgets. Remember that all this $$$ must be paid back with interest !
High Point Central was built many years before Andrews. It has gone through several additions and renovations. Andrews was thrown together, cheaply built and not maintained once it became a Guilford County School. As a person in the engineering and construction industry, I would not endorse a bond issue to fund an outhouse that was to be under the control of the Guilford County Board of Education or the current school administration. They would approve a cost that is many times over average and would likely forget to have the contractor “dig the hole”. Vote no for the bond until we can get Board members who will make the changes in the administration that the taxpayers can trust.