How will Chapel Hill, Orange County schools pay for nearly $500M in building needs?
Parents and teachers have a lot of questions about how Orange County will pay for nearly $500 million in critical school building repairs and renovations.
The cost for fixing decades-old buildings in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro and Orange County school districts is higher than previous estimates that pegged the cost at roughly $260 million, in part because of the rising cost of construction.
That was a key discussion during a joint meeting Tuesday night between the Orange County commissioners and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro and Orange County school boards.
Commissioners also had several questions about a $767,070 consultant contract that city schools officials signed in June without school board approval. The district’s assistant superintendent of business and finance resigned Monday.
The school board will hold a special, public meeting about the issue at 7 p.m. March 5 in the Lincoln Center boardroom, 750 S. Merritt Mill Road in Chapel Hill. The board also is looking at changing contract policies and creating a new whistleblower policy.
Commissioners Mark Dorosin and commissioners Chair Penny Rich said they’ve been asked several questions about what happened. A few people also told Rich they did not feel that they could talk publicly about the issue, she said.
The school board has launched an investigation and ended the contract with the consultant, Education Elements, after paying over $342,000. They will answer the commissioners’ questions in writing, school board Chair Mary Ann Wolf said.
“I hope the review considers — if it turns out that there was anything illegal done — that there would be an effort to recover any funds that were subject to some kind of illegal structuring in this deal,” Dorosin said.
City school board member Rani Dasi later emphasized the importance of the boards being able to talk openly with each other, instead of behind the scenes or through social media and other venues.
“As you know, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools is in a tough place right now,” Dasi said. “We’re going through a turbulent time, and we recognize that we have a lot of work to do to rebuild public trust, and we really hope that you as our One Orange partners can help in that process ... because it feels sometimes like conversations are happening in different places that aren’t supportive of the process.”
School repairs, bond money
One of the biggest issues facing the boards is how to pay for long-deferred repairs to city and county schools, many built several decades ago. The issue sparked the formation of a political action committee — Save Orange Schools — to advocate this year for electing commissioners who will spend more money fixing the problems.
A $120 million school bond that voters approved in 2016 has paid for extensive renovations to Chapel Hill High School, as well as to build a new Cedar Ridge High School classroom wing and replace mechanical equipment and roofs in the county schools.
The city schools system also got roughly $8.8 million in local and state funding this year to maintain its facilities, including one-time funding of $2.4 million for deferred maintenance and improvements. The county schools got roughly $5.7 million, including $1.6 million in one-time money.
That’s way below the industry standard of $16.4 million annually to upgrade equipment and mechanical systems as reported in the national State of Our Schools report, said Patrick Abele, the city schools’ assistant superintendent for support services. The industry recommends budgeting $12.3 million just to ensure buildings are “clean and in good working order,” he said, citing the American School and University M&O Cost Study.
The districts laid out three options for addressing the need Monday:
Chapel Hill-Carrboro
▪ Option 1: $64.5 million to $81.9 million for general repairs and upgrades, and to resolve issues with security, safety and disability access
▪ Option 2: $173.7 million to $212.2 million for long-term repairs and renovations that also increase elementary school classrooms
▪ Option 3: $281.9 million to $347.4 million for long-term repairs and renovations and increasing elementary school classrooms but with an eye on sustainability that could reduce future maintenance and operation costs
Orange County
▪ Option 1: $47.2 million to $59.4 million for general repairs and upgrades, and to resolve issues with security, safety and disability access
▪ Option 2: $83 million to $113.6 million for long-term repairs and renovations that also increase elementary school classrooms
▪ Option 3: $96.8 million to $130.9 million for long-term repairs and renovations and increasing elementary school classrooms but with an eye on sustainability that could reduce future maintenance and operation costs
Commissioners Jamezetta Bedford and Dorosin encouraged both districts to further identify their top projects, projects that could be done with less money, and a more accurate cost for keeping up with maintenance. A penny of the county’s property tax rate generates roughly $1.9 million.
“We’re making decisions sort of in the dark,” Bedford said.
State budget, teacher pay
The school systems also took a big hit from the state’s failure to pass a budget this year, Wolf and and county school board Chair Will Atherton said.
They are not expecting teacher raises and don’t know what’s next, they said. At the same time, there is potential growth in student enrollment, a desire to expand pre-K classes, and a need for more classrooms to meet state-mandated class size reductions in grades K-3.
The boards urged the commissioners to consider a one-time payment for teachers, if not a sustainable raise, and to consider how to give more young children a head start before they enter kindergarten.
The county’s education funding has grown by an average of 4.8% each year since June 2016, the current budget shows. This year’s $88.8 million operating budget gave $35.5 million to county schools and $53.3 million to city schools, based on each one’s share of student enrollment. The operating budget is in addition to the county’s capital budget for school needs.
The city schools also benefit from a district property tax expected to raise another $24.2 million. The county district does not have a special tax to support schools.
The school districts will present next year’s recommended budgets to the commissioners on April 28. The commissioners will get the county manager’s draft budget May 5. That will be followed by several work sessions and at least two public hearings.
The commissioners could approve next year’s budget June 16.
