Wake school board will ask for bond referendum. Here’s how much it will request
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- School board will request a $680M bond referendum for the Nov. 2026 ballot.
- School board will ask commissioners for $832.3M to fund 2027–28 and 2028–29 projects.
- Bond would fund new schools, major renovations, and capital program needs.
The Wake County school board is expected to ask on Tuesday for a $680 million school construction bond referendum to be placed on the November ballot.
School administrators want the school board to pass a resolution requesting the Wake County Board of Commissioners to provide $832.3 million to pay for school construction projects during the 2027-28 and 2028-29 fiscal years. Most of the funding would come from a $680 million bond referendum, with cash being used to cover the remaining costs.
“The Board hereby requests and petitions the Board of Commissioners for the County of Wake, North Carolina to take all necessary steps, by the issuance of general obligation bonds of the County or otherwise, to provide funds for paying the costs of the Project described in Section 1 above,” according to the resolution the school board will vote on.
“This includes a request that the County conduct a general obligation bond referendum in 2026 to authorize the issuance by the County of general obligation bonds in the amount of $680,000,000.”
It will be up to commissioners whether to put the bond referendum on the ballot. The request won’t be a surprise because county staff and school staff regularly meet to discuss the school district’s ongoing construction program.
Ultimately though, the decision would come down to whether voters are willing to pass a referendum that will raise their taxes again to pay for school bonds. In 2022, voters approved a $530.7 million Wake County school bond.
School bond referendum would raise property taxes
The request for the school construction funding comes amid a period of budget tensions about how much more money taxpayers are willing to provide.
Property taxes have sharply risen in Wake County due to factors such as increases in school funding and the 2024 property revaluation. Commissioners have provided the school system with an average funding increase of $49.7 million over the last four years.
Wake Technical Community College leaders are also expecting to request a bond referendum on the November ballot.
Under the county’s funding model, paying for this fall’s Wake County school system and Wake Tech bonds would raise the property tax rate by a half-cent. That would be $22.50 more per year on a home assessed at $450,000.
Wake NCAE to picket school board meeting
Superintendent Robert Taylor has cited concerns about what the community can afford for only asking commissioners for $25 million more this year even though he says the school district’s needs are much higher. Taylor will officially present his budget proposal on Tuesday.
Taylor has warned that budget cuts will be needed in areas such as special education. But following teacher protests and school board opposition, Taylor has said he’ll drop his proposal to eliminate 130 special education teaching positions.
The Wake County chapter of the North Carolina Association of Educators plans to picket outside Tuesday’s school board meeting.
“The WCPSS community, educators, and even school board members have made it clear that we cannot decimate our special education programs or sacrifice our most vulnerable students,” Christina Cole, president of Wake NCAE, said in a statement. “What is needed now is a full commitment to request the necessary resources to protect those students by putting forward a budget that supports both them and the educators who serve them.”
Projects that could be funded in November bond
The school board is also scheduled to vote Tuesday on a $2.9 billion list of construction projects that could be funded over the next seven years. The list includes the projects that would be directly paid for by this fall’s bond referendum.
The plan calls for fully or partially funding three new schools through the bond:
- Marshburn Road Elementary near Wendell
- Poole Road Elementary in Raleigh
- Little Creek Elementary in Zebulon
The plan calls for fully or partially funding major renovations at eight schools through the bond:
- Athens Drive High School in Raleigh
- Briarcliff Elementary School in Cary
- East Garner Middle School
- Ligon Middle School in Raleigh
- Cary High School
- Wendell Elementary School
- Washington Elementary School in Raleigh
- East Wake High School in Wendell
There would also be money set aside to pay what are called “program requirements.” These items include smaller renovation projects and replacing furniture and other aging equipment at schools.
The district would also use the cash side of the capital improvement funding to pay for items such as buying new computers for students.
