Lenoir County voters are being asked to borrow nearly $70 million dollars to build and upgrade schools and their answer is due on the primary election ballot May 2.
The plan adopted by the Lenoir County Board of Education places emphasis during the initial renovation stages on elementary schools. It includes a reorganization of schools, moving from the present K-5 grade configuration to a K-8 system in one instance.
Declining enrollment through the foreseeable future is part of the rationale being used to justify the switch. By closing and combining some schools, the board has said it can save money and provide a better education for children.
Deteriorating and outdated buildings is another reason given for the bond. The last public school built in Lenoir County was Kinston High School 28 years ago. The school board says the average age of schools is 58 years.
Video proof
The board, in its published information about the bond, admits that its buildings are plagued by situations developing from poor maintenance. It cites such issues as leaking roofs, poor indoor air quality and inadequate ventilation. A video produced by the district shows missing ceiling tiles, an unstable floor, chipped and peeling paint, a missing faucet in a bathroom and many other similar maintenance failures. Nowhere in the information does the board explain why a better maintenance program was not in place nor does it say how new and renovated buildings would be cared for in the future.
“Many of the program spaces, such as classrooms and media centers, are undersized and inadequate to house instructional programs,” the board says. “In addition, many of the campuses have separate, individual buildings linked by canopies. This configuration poses security and safety issues for our students.”
Neither security nor safety issues are documented through law enforcement records. No incidents have been reported recently that occurred because of multiple school buildings or connecting canopies. The district reported to the state Department of Instruction that only one incident per 100 students occurred last year and that was in an unidentified middle school.
Space apparently is not a problem, according to a report the district filed with the DPI. Most classroom sizes in grades K through 8 are at the state average, with three exceptions. Grades 4 and 5 locally average 20 students per class. The state average is 21. Only grade 8 exceeds that average. Lenoir County’s average is 22 lower grade students per class. The state average is 21.
While the district says children will be better educated in new buildings, state test scores for local schools do not necessarily support the claim. Information submitted to the DPI seems to say that well-qualified teachers might play a larger role in overall education than does buildings.
The numbers game
These are the most recent average test scores in reading and math, and teacher qualification information, from the DPI.
Banks: | Reading: 88.3 | Math: 92.4 |
Teachers highly qualified: 100 % Teachers with advance degrees: 31 % |
Bynum: | Reading: 63.4 | Math: 69.9 |
Teachers highly qualified: 60 % Teachers with advance degrees: 6 % |
Contentnea: | Reading: 87.1 | Math: 91.4 |
Teachers highly qualified: 100 % Teachers with advance degrees: 15 % |
LaGrange: | Reading: 79.8 | Math: 83.5 |
Teachers highly qualified: 92 % Teachers with advance degrees: 19 % |
Moss Hill: | Reading: 89.3 | Math: 93.2 |
Teachers highly qualified: 87 % Teachers with advance degrees: 10 % |
Northwest: | Reading 90.3 | Math: 79.5 |
Teachers highly qualified: 78 % Teachers with advance degrees: 26 % |
Pink Hill: | Reading: 84.6 | Math: 91.5 |
Teachers highly qualified: 89 % Teachers with advance degrees: 21 % |
Sampson: | Reading: 55 | Math: 47.5
Teachers highly qualified: 18 % Teachers with advance degrees: 29 % |
Savannah: | Reading: 87 | Math: 86.9 |
Teachers highly qualified: 80 % Teachers with advance degrees: 17 % |
Southeast: | Reading: 74.2 | Math: 76.1 |
Teachers highly qualified: 60 % Teachers with advance degrees: 13 % |
Southwood: | Reading: 87.1 | Math: 88.7 |
Teachers highly qualified: 86 % Teachers with advance degrees: 25 % |
Teachers Mem: | Reading: 77.2 | Math: 78.2 |
Teachers highly qualified: 82 % Teachers with advance degrees: 7 % |
State averages: | Reading: 84.6 | Math: 87.3 |
Teachers highly qualified: 92 % Teachers with advance degrees: 27 % | |
The plan does include redistricting. The school board would move between 100 and 150 student from Bynum to Southeast Elementary. Bynum is called a “low enrollment school,” and is in a flood zone. The board says Bynum and Teachers Memorial “are in need of renovations.”
The board does not address the effects on students and their families of no longer having a true neighborhood school, and does not mention the savings effect of the closings.
“It has been projected that Lenoir County Public Schools will receive annual funds from the lottery in an amount sufficient to fund a little more than one new elementary school every 20 years,” the district says. “If available (emphasis added), the lottery revenues will be used to service the debt [interest] on approximately $19,700,000 of the total $69,700,000 in bonds.”
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