New Hanover County voters overwhelmingly approved a $160 million school bond at the polls Nov. 4, with 63.8 percent of votes in favor of the bond.
The bond, whittled down from nearly $400 million in needs, will fund district-wide technology, safety and infrastructure improvements in addition to construction of a new elementary school in Porters Neck, reconstruction of College Park and Blair elementary schools, and renovation and expansion of Wrightsville Beach School.
The $7.3 million project at Wrightsville Beach School will add a second story of classrooms and administrative support spaces to the school, bringing classes held in 10 mobile units and the nearby Wrightsville Beach Baptist Church back into the main building.
Principal MaryPaul Beall described an atmosphere of excitement at Wrightsville Beach School the morning of Nov. 5.
“It’s a big relief to know that we’ll finally be getting what we need,” she said.
Wrightsville Beach students are consistently top performers on end-of-grade tests despite the school’s shabby facilities. Students will continue to succeed not because of facility improvements, Beall said, but because of support from the entire school community, including teachers and parents.
“These kids are going to work regardless of where they are,” Beall said. “But the new facility is going to mean more space, more opportunity to do things we can’t do now. Kids will be able to spread out … and it’ll be nice to have teacher work rooms and space for meetings. It will definitely boost morale.”
Beall thanked the county school system and the bond committee it assembled for disseminating information to voters to ensure the bond passed.
New Hanover County Schools Superintendent Dr. Tim Markley also credited the bond committee’s work to educate voters about the need behind the bond. He said the amount of support for the bond, which is the most expensive school bond requested to date, underlines the public priority of quality public education.
“I think that says a lot about what folks think about public schools in New Hanover County,” Markley said.
Newly elected school board member and former county manager Bruce Shell, who publicly advocated for the bond and its minimal impact to the county tax rate, said he was surprised and excited about voter support for the bond and for school improvements.
Shell stood behind his analysis of the bond’s financial impact, which differed from the analysis offered by current county manager Chris Coudriet’s office. Shell said the bond will cost county taxpayers no more than 1.5 cents per $100 of property value, compared to the county’s estimate of 3 cents on average, due to growing revenue and dwindling debt over the next five years.
“All the economic indicators are up. That means more property tax, because things are being built, and more sales tax being generated. Unemployment’s coming down,” Shell said, adding the county budgeted zero revenue against the school bonds.
The county manager’s office cited continuing debt obligations from voter-approved bonds in 2006 and 2008 as one reason for a proposed tax hike if the school bond passed. Shell noted that his calculations using county numbers suggest the debt will drop dramatically during the time school bonds are issued.
“They will issue $160 million over five years. During that same period of time, debt will drop $240 million,” Shell said. “The debt’s dropping faster than you can issue it.”
Markley noted that regardless of whether the bond causes a 3 cent tax impact, 1.5 cent impact or no impact to the county tax rate, a robust discussion about the bond’s potential impact ensured county residents are prepared to pay for school improvements.
“There was a very good discussion about the potential tax impact, so there’s not going to be any surprises if there is a tax impact from this bond,” Markley said.
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