School renovations back on track

Wake commissioners plan to restore money, realizing a delay would raise the cost

Wake County commissioners will restore funding to school renovations delayed last week.

During a work session Tuesday, commissioners informally agreed to put most of the renovations back into the spending plan this year.

At a meeting last week, they had postponed the funding in favor of building new schools faster.

But commissioners said Tuesday that they had not realized that the delays would increase the cost on the renovations in at eight schools in the long run.

"We would save money by going ahead and doing those projects sooner rather than later," said Chairman Tony Gurley.

The renovations were postponed Jan. 8 when commissioners rewrote a spending plan for $970 million in school bonds approved by voters in November.

The spending plan included money for converting schools to year-round calendars, in which students attend classes on different tracks. Parents whose children would be moved onto the schedule had asked commissioners to withhold the funding for converting the schools.

Instead, commissioners decided to postpone spending on renovations that wouldn't add new seats and move up other projects not originally scheduled for 2007.

Commissioners will formally vote whether to restore funding for most of the renovations during their regular meeting Feb. 5. But during a straw poll Tuesday afternoon, all seven agreed in principle to the idea.

The $58.9 million would pay for renovations at East Millbrook and Martin middle schools and at Lynn, Lacey, Poe, Root and Smith elementary schools, as well as at Enloe High School.

Board members also discussed restoring $3.5 million for converting schools to year-round calendars and $3.8 million for moving mobile classrooms, which also had been postponed.

The board's three Democrats wanted to restore that funding as well, arguing that commissioners improperly interfered with school board policy when they rewrote the spending plan.

"We need to give the school board what they asked for," said Commissioner Betty Lou Ward.

But the four Republicans said that commissioners have the right to make the decision because they are in charge of school spending. Gurley said it was a "legally defensible" position. "I'll go to court if I have to," he said.