Guilford County Schools plans to build a school near Colfax, but some residents in the area don’t want a school there – and are in the process of filing a lawsuit against Guilford County and Guilford County Schools to stop the school from being built on the current proposed site.
The details of the lawsuit – and basis for it – haven’t been made public yet. However, the Guilford County commissioners have been briefed on the expected suit, and some plaintiffs are upset that, on Thursday, Sept. 7, the Board of Commissioners voted to allow the project to move forward while knowing the lawsuit was in the works.
NC General Statutes state, “No contract for the purchase of a site shall be executed nor any funds expended therefore without the approval of the Board of County Commissioners as to the amount to be spent for the site.”
The Guilford County Board of Education approved the purchase of the land in July and, on Sept. 7, the school board requested Board of Commissioners approval to purchase the 27 acres made up of three adjacent properties on Boylston Road and Bunker Hill Road near Colfax for $2,543,600.
That night, after a closed session, the board voted unanimously on the following motion: “Pursuant to [NC General Statutes], approve the amount of $2,543,600 to be spent for the Guilford County Board of Education’s acquisition of the site for the Katherine G. Johnson K-8 School, as requested by the Board of Education, and approve associated budget amendments.”
Chairman of the Board of Commissioners Skip Alston said this week that the board had no problem taking the vote that allocated the money, even with a lawsuit coming.
“It doesn’t affect us,” Alston said of the impending legal action. “That’s before the school board.”
Alston said the commissioners are just doing their job of providing money to the schools in a timely manner as needed for projects, and he added that the lawsuit will either stop the project or not – but added that that’s something that will be determined later by the court.
Two sources familiar with the planned suit said that, in fact, Guilford County will be a defendant as well as the school board.
Alston pointed out that no speakers from the floor came out to the Sept. 7 meeting to object, but he did acknowledge that several of the residents in the proposed school area spoke out against a school being built at the site at an August meeting. At that meeting, many of the concerns regarded traffic and child safety.
Commissioner James Upchurch, who doesn’t approve the location of the school, said that he did not have a problem voting yes on the Sept. 7 motion.
“I’ve been on record that I think it’s a terrible location for a new school,” he said.
He added that the Sept. 7 vote was essentially one where the vote just meant that the commissioners agreed the price of the property was not unreasonable.
Upchurch said what really needs to happen is for school district lines in Guilford County be redrawn in a more rational manner.
Upchurch said that, regardless of his disapproval of the location, it made sense to vote for the Sept. 7 motion as a procedural matter.
Oh boy….more expensive snafus for the tax paying citizens.
You sue, you lose, school is built, life goes. Stop wasting your tax dollars fighting against the inevitable. You have no political power in Guilford county so if you do win the County would readjust and drop an even bigger monstrosity complete with apartments and shopping and ticky tack homes everywhere. Stop wasting everyone’s time and resources
Big City clearly has Stockholm Syndrome – now that’s funny
That part of the county must love overstuffed schools or they rather their kids be uneducated and just do farming. The population of the state, county is growing, more people are moving out into the county, but the selffish rural folks don’t want education for their kids. SMDH!!!
Your comment is laughable. The school in question is not being built for the area but to bus kids in from God knows where. As far as education is concerned, the school board members have no idea how to manage a school system, which is evident from poorly educated kids. Rural folks are not responsible for the actions of the school board.
BINGO!
Stop bringing kids in from outside the district and the existing Colfax Elementary would likely suffice another 30 years.
Are you implying farmers are uneducated? That is the elitist wrong thinking that leads to division. Farming is not only hard work but also requires a ton of expertise, education, and flexible skill sets to even attempt. As the population grows how do we feed them? Import garbage from China? Or have our local extremely capable farmers feed us all?
Skip Alston, why do you think the lawsuit will not affect Guilford County when it is taxpayer money that is funding the school? Is Skippy now an expert on lawsuits? Has the attorney for Guilford County told Skippy that the county has nothing to fear from the lawsuit? Not so fast, Skippy. A personal dream is to see Skippy testify under oath.
Skip is like most Democrates in office; when Democrates cannot solve a problem, they throw money at the problem. Unfortunately, it is not the Democrates’ money but taxpayer money. Skip is working directly with Deena Hayes on the school board to “fix” the dismal student outcomes. Building a shiny new school in the middle of a rural area will not fix the problem because the problem is the school system. Skip is against the expansion of the private school voucher program as outlined in his Resolution to Prioritize Public Schools dated June 15, 2023; a resolution adopted by all Commissioners. Why is this pertinent to the issue of land purchase and rezoning? It shows intent to misuse taxpayer money for a new public school that is not needed.
The price negotiated for the land is twice its value. Why would the school board pay twice the value for the land? Because it is not the Board’s money. It is taxpayer money. This is an expenditure that the Commissioners should not have approved since the purchase price is above market value and is, therefore, wasteful spending.
Unless you know the specific details and I mean specific and have been involved in this nightmare from the beginning, save your comments for another issue. There is a lot at stake putting a school that is not even needed at this dangerous corner.