Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Skip Alston and fellow commissioners are taking a tour of an area school in order to emphasize school system repair and construction needs prior to the election next month that includes a massive school bond referendum.

On Tuesday, April 19, Guilford County announced that, on Wednesday, April 20, Alston and an entourage of press will be touring Kiser Middle School in Greensboro.

The commissioners have been touring schools ever since Alston got the idea to do so in the fall of 2021.  The original goal was to tour one school a week, however, the commissioners have been touring closer to one a month.

On Tuesday, May 17, voters in Guilford County will decide the fate of a $1.7 billion school bond referendum, and Alston and many other county commissioners are doing all they can to highlight school facility problems in the lead up to that election.

In November of 2020, county voters approved $300 million in school bond money for repairs and construction. However, Alston and Board of Education members say that money isn’t nearly enough to address all the needs at the county’s 125-plus schools.

A complete rebuild of Kiser is called for using money from that previously approved $300 million and there’s been a lot of controversy lately about how exactly that project should proceed.

While at Kiser on Wednesday, the commissioners who attend plan to meet with Kiser Principal Teddy Wohlgemuth to discuss the rebuilding project.

School leaders plan more improvements in Kiser’s school facilities if the  $1.7 billion school bond passes next month.

County officials are also using the school tours to get the word out that they want to see voters approve a quarter-cent sales tax increase that will also be on the ballot next month.

Guilford County voters have never approved a sales tax increase – though the county commissioners continue to put the choice on the ballot every five years or so.

The voters have approved school bonds before but never any amount remotely close to the $1.7 billion the school system is asking for this time around.