Superintendent Rick Stout said that instead of waiting for a $3 million loan from the Qualified School Construction Bonds Program, the school system wants to securing a $3 million bond from BB&T at a 2 percent interest rate. The county would be required by law to oversee the bond.
Stout said there are two advantages to this. First, the schools don't have to wait until the zero-interest rate bonds can be sold, which has already delayed the project more than six months.
Also, the higher interest will be more than offset by the savings created by not waiting, according to Stout.
He told commissioners that current construction rates are about $100 per square foot for schools. If the boards hold off on the project, work may pick back up for the construction and prices could increase to $150 to $175 per foot, or between 50 to 75 percent.
The interest from the loans will increase the long-term costs by 13.2 percent, or from $250,000 a year for a 12-year period to $283,000 a year. The funds for repayment are to come from lottery money.
The Wagram Primary expansion project calls for an addition at the Wagram school to house the students from Shaw Primary School. East Laurinburg Alternative School will then be moved to the Shaw campus and the East Laurinburg campus will be closed. Some school officials see the change as a way to cut costs, reduce overcrowding and improve academic achievement.
The commissioners voiced their support, but County Manager Kevin Patterson said the support would come with a condition.
"We have to own the school," Patterson said.
He explained that, as the county legally owns the bond, the county would also then need to legally own the school, with the school system getting ownership after they paid the loan in full.
The school board did not reject to this arrangement.
The school system must now finish the architectural designs of the building and secure a bid for the project before getting final county approval for the project.
County commissioners also mentioned another concern - school finances.
Commissioner Bob Davis questioned school officials on a half million dollar discrepancy in the fund balance reported shortly after Stout became superintendent.
Stout told commissioners the money had been accounted for since he came into office.
"When you change administrations, sometimes the coffers aren't as full (as you expect)," Stout said.
School board member Paul Rush said he was as surprised as was his seven fellow board members.
He noted that the finance officer had also recently left before the money was found to be missing, speculating that Marvin Dereef may not have kept the board up to date on finances.
County Chairman J.D. Willis said the school system gave an adequate explanation of the unreported spending, though he felt former superintendent Shirley Prince was to blame for the reporting error.
"The buck stops with the superintendent, just like when you look at the total picture with county government, the buck stops with the county manager because that is the person that is in charge of daily operations."
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