CORRECTION

A story in the City & State section Wednesday gave the wrong e-mail address for Meg Miller, a parent who wants to create a committee to raise money for Northwood High School in Pittsboro. Her e-mail address is meg_miller@bellsouth.net.

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PITTSBORO -- Parents and community leaders toured Northwood High School on Tuesday night, pointing out the warped and stained ceiling tiles, the moldy carpet dotted with trash and dead bugs, and the grimy school bathrooms.

The group of about 50 people were frustrated to see the state of their children's school, and they vowed to take matters into their own hands.

They hope to start a committee that would raise money for the educational equipment, furniture and maintenance that the 30-year-old school needs.

"It wouldn't take a whole lot to have some wonderful things happen here," said Peter Theye, a Northwood parent who helped organize Tuesday's gathering along with Meg Miller, another parent.

The idea to start such an effort, Theye said, came after a joint budget meeting between the Chatham County school board and Chatham County commissioners. At the meeting, which was held at Northwood, Miller told the boards that Northwood appeared to have the fewest proposed improvements of the county's three high schools, yet Northwood was the one with the most need.

Northwood, at U.S. 15-501 and the U.S. 64 Bypass, serves the ever-growing northeast part of the county between Chapel Hill and Pittsboro. The school was built for 700 students, but it has 1,000, school officials said. And with thousands of new homes approved to be built along the U.S. 15-501 corridor, more students are coming.

"We need to make this school look good," Miller said.

Group members took copious notes as they peered into the small art room that does not accommodate all the students. They inspected the faculty bathroom, with a thick layer of grime in the sink and on the door.

"What's so hard about putting a decent sink in here for the teachers?" Miller asked.

Assistant Principal Marvin Bradley, who led the tour, showed the group some of the fixes they have made this summer. But he also said the school could use benches in the lobby for the students to sit on in the morning before school starts.

The group visited the library and remarked on empty book shelves and couches that had seen better days.

If the school needs a bigger art room, why not switch it with the library? asked Kim Scott, whose son will start at Northwood in 2007.

Rich Helgans, whose daughter will also start next year, suggested asking the students how they would want to redecorate the library.

Then the tour headed to the school's gym, with rusty weights and a muddy floor.

"This room is the reason we are all here," Miller told the group. "You couldn't have this [equipment] in a prison because you'd get sued."

By exposing the school's problems, Miller said, she hoped the parents would be motivated to fix them.

"It's about taking pride for the school," she said.

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