Usually, when people ask your opinion, you give them your “two-cents worth” of input, but the Guilford County Board of Commissioners is asking county residents in early December to give them $1.7 billion worth – or, at least, that’s the maximum amount under consideration for a new school bond referendum that could go on the ballot next year.
At a commissioners meeting on Thursday, Nov. 18, the board discussed putting $1.7 billion on the ballot for voters to decide – though the actual amount of the school bond referendum is still up in the air.
Now the board wants to hear from the people. On Friday, Nov. 19, the county announced a public hearing on Thursday, Dec. 2 for that purpose.
The public hearing is part of the long process that all bond referendums in North Carolina must go through before being placed on the ballot. Anyone who wants to be heard on the proposed bond referendum – “and the advisability of issuing the bonds” –can speak at the public hearing at 301 W. Market St. in Greensboro on the second floor, at a meeting that starts at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, December 2.
The request to put the referendum on the ballot goes to the Local Government Commission of North Carolina. (LGC) – a state financial oversight agency that makes sure the county is in a good enough financial situation to borrow the money if the voters approve the referendum.
The resolution that passed unanimously by the board on Nov. 18 reads, “Now, Therefore, Be It Ordered by the Board as follows … The Board determines that it is necessary to provide school facilities, including the acquisition and construction of new school facilities, the improvement and expansion of existing school facilities and the acquisition and installation of furnishings and equipment and the acquisition of interests in real property required therefor, and to pay capital costs of such improvements.”
The piper must be paid and the resolution also states, “Taxes sufficient to pay the principal of and interest on those bonds when due shall be annually levied and collected.”
Scott, they don’t want to hear my thoughts….
The public hearing will undoubtedly be overwhelmed by “educators” who will scream that it’s for the children. Strange though, that the US spends more money per student than any other Western country save Switzerland, but our children are the 27th worst educated in the world.
The government school monopoly is an obscene rip-off of the taxpayer, an obscene disservice to our children, and an obscene system of sinecures for our incompetent “educators”.
JUST SAY NO to a corrupt monopolistic incompetent system. Lack of money is NOT the problem.
You sir, hit the nail on the head. 🙂
Thanks, Joe!
Our media have become so tendentious and one-sided that it’s refreshing to write (and read) the truth, spoken plainly and clearly (thank you, Rhino Times!).
Ha!!!! I agree with Austin Morris!!!!
It is clearly NOT a money problem.
NO. Until there is a new Board of Commissioners, a new School Board, a new Superintendent for Guilford County Schools, an overhaul of the County School budget, a new County Manager, there will be no vote from me for them to have more money to waste on school buildings, projects, repairs, programs. They have money that’s not been spent, money that’s been badly spent, money that’s been misspent, facilities that have been allowed to rot until they are uninhabitable. Vote NO on bonds for the County Schools.
First it was take the children and feed them 3 meals a day, weekend/summer packs of food and , provide after school care…make sure those who brought them into this world have NO responsibility in raising them whatsoever. This is a huge financial burden on the school budgets. Then step back while “socialistic liberalism” is blatantly taught in the classrooms as instructed by National and local school boards. Those that support these anti-American ideas such as the well funded Teacher’s unions should support what they have created…taxpayers have carried the burden long enough!
Why not educate the students before throwing more money at the schools?
Our totally irresponsible school board would squander the $1.7 billion and then come back and demand more.
Not just NO but HELL No for all of the above reasons not to mention the fact that the administration is too too heavy from the main office to each school and as Forrestt says that’s all I have to say about that
More money, more time, more attention. It’s never enough for the grant whores @ the school board. I’ve nothing for them. Restructure that top heavy administration and weed out all the fluff, you’ll find there’s plenty there to work with. Oh, and if you dump Contreras that would be an excellent place to start.