Lawmakers’ break jeopardizes new NC School of Science and Mathematics campus

Lawmakers’ decision to go home this month without agreeing on a budget may have forced a new school to delay opening until 2022.

The N.C. School of Science and Mathematics’ Morganton campus was set to open in August 2021 and offer a residential program to 300 high school juniors and seniors. But to open, the school needs the allotted $3.39 million for operational costs in the state’s budget vetoed by Gov. Roy Cooper.

“All of our hope predicated on the General Assembly finding a way toward a budget or appropriation for this program,” said Kevin Baxter, the school’s director of western campus planning and project manager. Anything “short of that required us to formally delay opening.”

Lawmakers decided to expand the Durham-based residential school to a second campus with 300 students in Morganton after the Durham campus reached 680 juniors and seniors in 2016.

A Connect NC bond package gave $58 million to build the second campus. In the 2015-2016 session, lawmakers earmarked $500,000 in operating costs to the school to begin work on the campus.

That $500,000 has been spent.

Baxter said as of last week his operational costs are in the red.

“We’re doing the best we can,” Baxter said. “We’re trying to acclimate to our current reality.”

Baxter had planned to use the $3.39 million to hire 15 new employees, including someone to oversee construction, recruit students and create a curriculum.

The decision to delay opening for a year has not yet been made. Baxter is hoping lawmakers might do something between now and Feb. 15 when he will give stakeholders a final decision, but the legislature isn’t scheduled to return until April 28.

This story was originally published January 23, 2020 at 1:53 PM.