I’m not sure what’s more incredulous in this Rhino Times story of the week…people forming a group to oppose the bonds (for the wrong reasons), Walter Childs’ rather eyebrow-raising comments, or the figures on how much we’re spending on school construction in Guilford County.
Nonetheless, we have to deal with all of this…
A new anti-bonds group has formed this week, which includes GCS Board members Walt Childs and Deena Hayes. A mailing is scheduled shortly.
Here’s the gist of this group…Rhino excerpt:
Hayes described The People’s Choice as an ad-hoc organization of people opposed to racial and ethnic disparity in the schools. She said the group opposes the bonds because minority residents of the county will not benefit from it as much as white residents, who she said are getting “palatial” schools such as the Northern Guilford middle and high schools.
Hayes said, “Taxpaying citizens of color are asked to support the school system, and their kids are getting the least benefit from it.”
Uh-boy….
Here’s my thing…if you’re going to oppose the bonds, oppose the bonds on principle, such as $412 million is too much, or this Board (which you, Deena and Walt sit on) constantly squanders taxpayer money and we don’t want to give you anymore of it.
More:
Hayes and Childs also said The People’s Choice opposes the bonds because the construction contracts from the 2003 and 2000 school bonds went disproportionately to white construction companies.
“We’re making sure that moneys that are allocated for schools are equitably distributed among all the contractors,” Childs said. “It needs to benefit the black community as well as the white community.”
Guilford County Schools has a program in place that is supposed to ensure that minority contractors get a share of construction contacts. Childs, however, said that many of the contracts arranged under that program go to businesses owned by white women.
“We don’t know if those were fronting for large white companies,” Childs said.
Stop the tape…Large…WHAT? WHAT did Walt say?
“We don’t know if those were fronting for large white companies,” Childs said.
Walt had better be glad his term is up. I’d like to know exactly what a “large white company” is.
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These are the people that run your schools. Please remember this when you cast your primary ballot in a couple of weeks.
BTW, Amos quick had an interesting quote in this article:
Another school board member, Amos Quick, who represents District 9, said he is also against the bonds but is not part of The People’s Choice.
We’re talking about an airport-area high school but not addressing the renovation needs we have,” Quick said. “I think we need to address some of those needs before we sink $80 million into a high school.”
See, Mr. Quick is opposing it for the right reasons.
The Rhino’s Paul Clark has also done an excellent job in this article of laying all the numbers out on the table as to why it is so expensive to build schools in Guilford County.
More from the article:
The cost comparison Guilford County Schools likes to cite the most, cost per square foot, does not address the overall cost of the schools the system is building. At the dedication of Northern Guilford High, Guilford County Board of Education Chairman Alan Duncan told the audience that the school, which is the model for the airport-area high school and other future high schools in the county, was built for slightly less per square foot than the state average.
The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), however, maintains cost statistics on all new schools in the state. And according to the NCDPI, Northern cost $166 per square foot to build, more than the $161-per-square-foot average for the five high schools put out for bid in 2005.
Those figures include site work. Guilford County Schools cites $149 per square foot for Northern and $159 as the state average excluding site work.
In any case, the cost per square foot tells only part of the story. Guilford County Schools is also building larger schools.
The schools claim that many local factors can affect the cost per square foot of construction projects, although it’s hard to believe that cinder block is a lot more expensive in Guilford County than in Forsyth County.
There are two other cost comparisons that seem more relevant – overall cost and building area per student.
When it comes to overall cost, Guilford County Schools has built two of the five most expensive schools built in the state since 2002. Of the 170 public schools built in the state between 2002 and 2008, Northern Guilford High was the third most expensive, at $45 million, and Eastern Guilford High the fourth most expensive, at its original bid price of $40 million.
The two most expensive schools in the state during that period were Wake County’s Heritage High, at $50 million, and Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s Mallard Creek, at $46 million. But Heritage High has 1,600 students and Mallard Creek has 2,000, many more than the 1,200 students Northern and Eastern were designed to hold.
Adjusting for the number of students shows that Northern and Eastern cost more per student. Northern cost $37,500 per student to build, and Eastern cost $33,333 per student. Heritage came in at $31,250 per student, despite its higher overall cost, and Mallard Creek at a relatively thrifty $23,000 per student.
Well-done, Paul.
E.C. 
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Some David Crawford fans and supporters have visited this site in the last few days…I welcome you all.
If you missed our first Virtual Town-Hall Meeting & Campaign Web-Chat last night, you missed a treat. In fact, the web-chat surpassed my expectations.
Guilford School Watch 
I have watched Mr. Huey’s campaign strategy for almost a year. I do not see him as a principaled candidate or leader. His tactics are inflammatory and reactionary. Whenever there is a controversial issue that is as complex and as diverse as there are people in Guilford County, he fans the flames. Prior to Garth Hebert coming on the board, the school board kept their disagreements and differences candid and face to face, the honorable way. Garth resorts to getting stroked by the residents of an underground network of people with little or no alternatives to filter their frustrations and lack of control over their own lives. I find it very difficult to respect Mr. Huey’s approach. He will have to get along with others, be willing to be wrong and open to new information……Something he cleary cannot do. He lacks political maturity and just doesn;t seem like the kind of candidate that our commuity needs at this time.
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I’m inflammatory…that’s a new one.
See whenever I’ve received mail and messages like this in the past (I still get them periodically) and I have attempted to engage in dialogue with the writers of these letters, they would never want to write back or have a conversation with me direct.
If anything, I think my stances have been proactive because for too long, our School Board has been reactive.
V. Martin attacks “an underground network of people…who exhibit a lack of control over their own lives.” That’s quite a low-blow to attack these individuals who you don’t even know…many of whom are parents, teachers and citizens who are concerned about public education in Guilford County. And thank God for progressive sitting school board members who have the courage to put our children first above all else.
V. Martin says: “He will have to get along with others, be willing to be wrong and open to new information.” How do you know I’m incapable of doing just that? You attack me on a blog, yet you don’t know me, you don’t know what kind of person I am or the person I’m capable of. I think if you will accept my offer to meet you in person over coffee, I think I will change your mind.
V. Martin says: “He lacks political maturity and just doesn;t seem like the kind of candidate that our commuity needs at this time.” Politics have no place on our elected school board, therefore on the contrary, I think I’m exactly the right kind of individual our Board needs at this time.
E.C.