Money for new school pending
Additional $33,000 possible
CARLA G. OWENS Sentinel Writer

Senator John Snow

HAYESVILLE - "Senator Snow has his work cut out for him," Clay County Schools Superintendent D. Scott Penland told members of the Clay County Board of Education during their meeting Thursday night. Penland was referring to a bill which would change the way money from the state lottery is allocated to school systems in North Carolina.

A bill recently passed the NC House of Representatives and is now on its way to the NC Senate which would re-allocate lottery money more fairly. The new method would mean approximately $33,000 more a year for Clay County Schools. However, it would mean millions less for some other North Carolina school systems.

Penland explained that Snow and other NC Senators who are supporting the change in the lottery revenue distribution are facing an uphill battle to get the bill through the Senate.

A portion of the lottery revenue is distributed based on a school systems enrollment. Another portion is based on a systems rate of growth and property tax rate. The new allocation method is based on the rate of growth in a system no matter their tax rate. Because Clay County has a low property tax rate, even though they have a high rate of growth, they are currently cut out of that portion of the lottery funding. The new bill would change that, thus raising our lottery revenue to $123,000.

"It is just a fair share distribution," Penland said of the bill which recently passed the NC House. "It takes into account growing systems."

But even if Snow does come up with the golden ticket and gets that bill passed, Penland and the Clay County School Board of Education know that an additional $30,000 a year is not even a drop in the bucket when they are looking at several million dollars to construct a much needed new school.

Penland commented that Clay County Schools will need more than just lottery money to build a new facility. Penland said the board will have to look at all the possibilities for funding, including lottery money, a possible state bond, sales tax revenue all the bits and pieces and then they will have to sit down with the Clay County Commissioners and have a serious look out how to finance a new school.

Like many schools in the state, Clay County would benefit greatly from a state bond which would help cover some of the huge cost of constructing a new school. State law makers have discussed a statewide school construction bond which would help fund millions in school construction needs across the state. The bond issue has not yet come before the NC Legislature.

Penland told school board members that he has talked with the Clay County Commission and they have proposed that the two groups get together and have a special meeting to discuss a new school. And although Penland said it might be a little early since they don't yet have any concrete figures or plans, he does want to plan a meeting as soon as an officialword comes from the state concerning the state bond for school construction.

Board members heartily agreed, saying that another construction proposal and cost analysis should be gotten in order to have a more concrete understanding of the cost involved. "We need to see what we are really looking at," they commented to Penland.

Members also suggested that they begin looking into the necessary land and environmental studies which will need to be completed at the site for the new school. "We might as well get started," Board Member Jason Rhinehardt commented, saying that things like soil tests and land surveys could be done now and they could start getting the land ready. Penland told the board that he would begin to findout what tests would need to be done, the cost involved and how long the results would be good for so that the tests would not have to be repeated.

Penland told school board members that he has recently been stopped by many residents and has only received positive feedback about constructing a new school. "People have told me that they want to try to make a new school a reality

I have only heard positive comments

It seems to be a popular thing in the community," Penland said of building a new primary school for Clay County's children, some of whom will gather for class in mobile units come August 27.

Penland and the board agreed that they should plan to meet with the Clay County Commission to begin work on making progress toward a new school as soon as possible.

To comment on this article, e-mail Carla at carlagowens@hotmail.com.

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