Orange County could be issuing a bond worth up to $120 million to go to both Orange County Schools and Chapel Hill – Carrboro City Schools after the elections in November.
Because this would only pay for a fraction of the estimated $330 million the systems have said they need to make necessary repairs and upgrades, commissioner Barry Jacobs said he wanted to hire an independent contractor to make recommendations on how the money should be spent.
“Since we’re the ones who are going to be approving the $120 million, I thought it was an important thing for us to feel comfortable with what was recommended,” he said. “That it met certain criteria that we all generally agree are important.”
The proposal was unanimously rejected in their meeting Tuesday night , with Jacobs himself voting against it.
The contractor was estimated to cost between $38,000 and $43,000. Chairs of both boards of education addressed the commissioners and stated their opposition.
Orange County chairwoman Donna Coffey said three years ago her board spent over $250,000 to study the issue.
“Our board has spend countless hours diligently reviewing and analyzing the results of these studies, knowing a future bond referendum would only offer us a limited amount of money,” Coffey said. “We wanted to ensure that our students, our teachers, our families and Orange County taxpayers got the most juice for our squeeze.”
After doing these studies, both boards of education shared their recommendations with the county.
Commissioner Mia Burroughs, who is a former member of the CHCCS board of education, said she saw no reason to hire the contractor.
“School boards are duly elected by the exact same people who elect us,” Burroughs said. “I think it would be duplicative and not necessary in any way to open that back up and question the priorities that they’ve made and started to invest in.”
Before the county is allowed to issue the bond, they will first have to get the public to approve it when it appears on the ballot in November.
“Just from a practical point of view I don’t see it working to have a consultant,” said commissioner Bernadette Pelissier. “The work wouldn’t be done until the end of June, then we’re on break, which means we couldn’t even discuss anything until September and then you’re supposed to have a campaign going.”
The board will hold public hearings on the bond April 19 and May 5.
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