There’s no question that the Guilford County commissioners are gung-ho on school funding.
Guilford County Schools got approval from county voters for $300 million in bond money in November 2020 and the Board of Commissioners just funded the schools for the 2021-2022 fiscal year with a record increase. However, already, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners Skip Alston and several other commissioners are talking about the need to put a $1.6 billion school bond referendum on the ballot next year.
Alston said studies of the school system’s situation over the last several years have shown a great financial need to cover school building repairs, maintenance and construction; and he added that the $300 million that was approved by voters last year isn’t nearly enough.
In the 2021-2022 fiscal budget that the county commissioners passed last month, Guilford County Schools didn’t get everything they asked for – but they did get a solid promise from Alston of plenty more to come.
At a work session with school officials – and also at a regular meeting with school advocates in the room – Alston promised that the county has the schools’ back.
“We are family,” Alston said in the work session. “We need to work together.”
The chairman also said that the funding the county is currently providing is only what can be done right now. Alston assured school officials that the county is doing everything it can to be in a position to provide more money for education in the future.
Right now, nearly half of the county’s budget goes to fund the school system and Guilford Technical Community College – as well as to pay off education-bond debt.
Not everyone is so eager to get a huge new pot of money into the hands of school officials. Over the last year, there’s been something of an uprising of disgruntled parents who’ve objected to many decisions of the school board and of Guilford County Schools Superintendent Sharon Contreras.
Oak Ridge Town Councilmember George McClellan said he’s been downright appalled by the way the current school board and superintendent have handled money in recent years. McClellan raised the issue of $10 million that the commissioners voted to provide the schools in 2018 for school security. He said school officials sat on that money for a long time and then ended up using much of it for other purposes.
“It’s about accountability,” he said.
McClellan also said that the school board was currently being extremely political.
“They are directly injecting partisanship” into the funding debate, he said.
He also said that the schools frequently ask for more and more money faster than they can spend it even though, he added, school leaders haven’t shown that they can spend it responsibly.
While McClellan feels that way, there are clearly many voters in Guilford County who disagree with that assessment. Next year everyone will likely find out how a majority of county voters feel.
Mr. McClellan is correct and a lot of people feel the same way. I said no money until Contreras is gone.
No one is going to spend some strangers’ money responsibly. It’s like finding a suitcase of cash by the roadside (Fargo), you’re likely to blow it.
Since when did throwing cash at the schools improved education, or even more generally, the lives of anyone? All these freebies just to buy your votes for cradle to grave support. Why work? Why achieve?
And I guess it is always too late to raise my hand timidly, to ask about armed guards & metal detectors on campus 24/7. Our politicians and legislators have this, why not someone important, like our children?
Vote against-till Contreras is gone.
Vouchers and school choice are best,though.
Vote against–till Contreras is gone.
Vouchers and school choice are best, though.
I can already see the gleam in Mr. Alston’s eyes. The School board and the County don’t seem to even get together to manage 10 million dollars why in the world should the citizens of this county trust them with so much more money? There doesn’t seem to be any accountability or I sure haven’t seen any. Everyone is blaming the other guy and the kids get NOTHING. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.
Why do we even need schools for kids to not learn to read, write, or cipher in? They could just as well not learn that stuff at home, without spending thousands of dollars a year per student for them to not learn it at school.
The schools are receiving 300 million from federal COVID funds. Why isn’t that money being applied for school repairs and construction? Instead, they are spending it on more teacher and administrator bonuses, a teaching
center and other wished for items instead of what they have constantly said are needed capital improvements. Maybe this money cannot legally be used for capital improvements – I don’t know the requirements – but if so, please indicate it in the news releases.
Over the past several years voters have already approved over $1 Billion in school debt. Funds are provided every year for maintenance. And every year repairs fall further and further behind. Have no doubt; give the schools another $1.6 billion, it will be wasted. In a few years they will be back, with the same old song and dance. Voters keep doing the same thing, expecting different results…
These people are experts at pissing away money. No amount will EVER be enough. We The People have to tell them what they will work with and they have to write a budget to confirm to that. Until that happens they’ll have their hand out every time their mouth opens.
The Delta Variant of bonds. Bend over, they haven’t figured out how YOU are going to pay for the last $300MM much less this one. Thanks Skip! Rest assured it won’t be anything like a sales tax or anything that would actually make sense where everyone would pay, the burden will fall on those of us who actually pay property taxes. Just say no! The schools get Federal, State, & Local funding, ALL of which we pay. At some point they need to reassess priorities and have fewer administrators, curriculum coordinators, grant whores, and get back to the three R’s within a reasonable budget.
I forgot the REAL kicker, do you homework on two-thirds bonds. Do you REALLY want to give these clowns the ability to borrow an additional $1.056 billion WITHOUT your consent. This will most assuredly be a free pass to borrow 2.656 billion dollars under the premise it is only $1.6 billion for school needs. Tell them to pound sand!
It’s actually worse. Two-thirds bonds allow the board to borrow two-thirds of the debt paid off the previous year and that includes paying off the debt on the two-thirds bonds.
O what tools these mortals be!
So, the Commissioners want a multi-Billion dollar school bond — which taxpayers foot the bill on. But only a few months ago, Skip Alston, other Commissioners and local Mayors had the grand idea to use all or part of over $100,000,000 in COVID relief money for an expansion of water lines to Oak Ridge, Summerfield, Sedalia, Whitsett, etc.?
What? Which developers came up with that idea and convinced the Commissioners and Mayors to go along? Instead of using the funds for school projects? (Or even for families, public safety issues like violence, businesses, direct premium pay and work programs).
The June 2021 regulations on use of COVID Relief money by local governments includes all kinds of proper uses to help schools . One applicable section states that if there was a loss of General Revenue by the local government, funds can be used on “maintenance of infrastructure” and “school and educational services.”
There are also other provisions allowing COVID Relief money to go to resources for certain school districts; tutoring and after school programs; broadband and internet services; school-based emotional and mental support; programs to address learning loss; ventilation improvements; support for prevention and mitigation of COVID in schools; and mitigation of violence and hiring public safety personnel.
So, why not use $100,000,000+ in COVID money for all of these school-related issues? It won’t solve all the problems, but isn’t it better to save us some money and help children and families instead of some crazy plan to bring water lines to people who already have perfectly good well water????
Hey, parents; if any of the moonbats in the photo (or their ilk) are near your children, it might be wise to consider an alternative to the taxpayer-funded education model.
This is not an altogether school issue,it is more a Skip and commissioners problem.When the Republicans were in charge they held their feet to the fire.Now Skip and crew are in charge give anyone who asked for money and it’s granted!!!!!!!!Skip is the problem.. I suggested that when Skip and crew took over that Taxes were to be raised on an annual basis .Free money for all is the current commissioners mantra .Skip and crew can give money away better than any commissioners ever.As long as it’s your mono.They will also include pay raises and boondoggles for themselves.Greensboro wise up and get those people off the commissioners board and get the Republicans back(those are the money managers).