$285 million to avoid year-round

Planners estimate cost to build new schools; Wake considers another bond issue

RALEIGH -- Wake County school planners said it will cost about $285 million in additional funding to avoid opening all new elementary and middle schools on a year-round calendar.

During a committee meeting Tuesday, school planners explained to board members that $285 million is needed to build nine additional schools by 2010 and create more traditional-calendar options for families.

The money would be in addition to the $970 million bond issue voters approved in November to combat Wake's soaring student enrollment.

School board members met Tuesday in response to the Wake County commissioners' proposal to put another bond referendum on this fall's ballot instead of waiting until 2008 or 2009.

Initially, board members were cool to the idea but decided to gather information from school planners on how much it would cost to avoid opening new elementary and middle schools on the year-round calendar.

The school board reiterated several times during the work session that they were neither in full support nor against a vote on bonds this fall. Instead, members said conversations between the two boards needed to continue.

"We want to make it clear to our parents and the public as a whole that we're not against [a referendum], but we're not for it," said school board Chairwoman Patti Head. "With our continued growth, we're on the path to opening more year-rounds, but if we want to change the proportion, how much would that cost?"

Year-round schools have been a source of contention between school board members, parents and commissioners.

Many parents oppose the schedule, which divides students into four different schedules or tracks and puts the school building in continuous use. They say the calendar would disrupt family life and put siblings on different schedules.

And many of those parents got the attention of commissioners, who decided in January to withhold funding to convert 22 schools to a year-round calendar in July. Last week, the school board voted to spend $2.9 million from its budget to pay for the conversions.

At the work session Tuesday, school planners did not specify where the additional money would come from. And it may not prevent the district from putting another large bond issue before voters in the future.

In order to provide more traditional-calendar schools through 2015, an additional $143 million would be needed, school planners said. That would be in addition to a possible bond issue that could be more than $800 million.

Chuck Dulaney, Wake schools assistant superintendent for growth and planning, said the additional funding would only address the calendar issue. Additional bonds or other revenue sources would be needed to help with Wake's growth, Dulaney said. Wake is expected to gain 32,000 students by 2010.

Dulaney said that if the new funding was received, the board could revisit decisions about the schools that have opened on a year-round calendar and revert those to a traditional calendar.

"[They] could go back and evaluate every school," Dulaney said.