RALEIGH -- Even though a weak economy has slowed growth, Wake County schools will still have to accommodate nearly 50,000 more students by 2020, officials heard today at a joint meeting of the school board and board of commissioners.
More seats will be needed at the high school level by 2013, at the elementary level by 2015, and in middle schools by 2017, for a total of about 32 new schools, according to projections. Total enrollment by 2020 is projected at nearly 195,000.
That's under new scenarios. A 2006 projection didn't go out as far as 2020, but predicted that Wake would have 20,000 more students this year than it does today.
"What we have done is reduce the enrollment growth projected for the system and make it substantially lower," said Nicole Kreiser, Wake County debt and capital director. "We're still predicting growth, it's just not as accelerated."
Costs for the new schools were estimated at about $950 million by county commissioner Joe Bryan, who was trying to project an amount for a bond issue county voters will have to approve within the next few years. A time for the referendum, which will also likely contain nearly an equal amount for maintenance and renovation, has not been determined.
School board chairman Ron Margiotta raised the idea that the county attorney's office could take on the real estate and disputed worker compensation issues for the school board. The cost-saving recommendation was included in a report on Wake schools' legal representation prepared last year by Raleigh attorney Thomas Farr.
Members of both boards pledged to find ways to cut costs while still supporting Wake's current 143,000-enrollment system. Commissioner Tony Gurley suggested close cooperation between them would be necessary to get the support needed to pass another bond referendum.
"For the most recent $970 million bond, these two boards met jointly for quite a bit of time and jointly established the variables and construction criteria," Gurley said.
"We were able to actively participate in promoting the bond to the public."
Said schools superintendent Tony Tata: "I think teamwork will be critical."
