Commissioners meet to talk schools
Thursday, August 31st, 2006
By Chris Fitzsimon
RALEIGH — Local government leaders from across the state met in Raleigh Wednesday to discuss a problem that is common to almost every county — school building needs.
A forum sponsored by the state Association of County Commissioners was held at the Exploris Museum.
Tony Gurley, the chairman of the Wake County Board of Commissioners, said education is the heart of the economic engine that drives the state. But it takes economic tools to provide that education to children, he added.
Ben Matthews, the director of school support services for the state Department of Public Instruction, said county school districts will need an estimated $9.7 billion over the next five years for school renovations, furniture and new buildings.
Each year that passes pushes the figure higher, he said.
"We have some absolutely wonderful schools in this state. We also have some that they should pull up a bulldozer on the side of it and just start over," Matthews said.
State officials said that since 2000, the rate of enrollment in the state’s high schools has increased three times faster than in elementary and middle schools. But experts expect the trend to change in the next five years, according to a survey. (more…)
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