The Eagle’s “Hell Freezes Over Tour” got a lot more attention than the Guilford County Board of Commissioners’ “Please Pass Our Giant School Bond Tour.”

However, when it’s all said and done, it looks like the commissioners’ school bond tour will have a larger number of performances than the Eagles did.

Since October of 2021, the Guilford County commissioners have been taking school tours – with media in tow, of course – of the most dilapidated buildings in the county’s school system.  The tours are an attempt to call attention to school system needs and convince people to vote to pass a $1.7 billion school bond referendum that will be on the ballot in the 2022 Primary election.

On Wednesday, March 2, Alston and others will tour the Montlieu Academy of Technology at 1105 Montlieu Ave. in High Point and meet with Principal Kimberly Scott, who’ll discuss with the commissioners the potential rebuilding of the school.  That move is proposed as one project to be funded with money from the upcoming school bond. 

The band leader on this tour is Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Skip Alston, who has been taking the tours with the other commissioners who want to go.  (Only four or fewer commissioners can be on any one tour – otherwise, it would constitute an illegal county commissioners meeting.)

Alston will also no doubt use the occasion to promote a proposed quarter-cent sales tax increase that will also be on the primary ballot.  That measure is meant to help fund the repayment of the enormous bond.

One possible – perhaps likely – outcome is that the school bond will pass but the sales tax increase will not.  That would mean the board would need to raise the money in some other way, such as through a large increase in property taxes.