Surry County Schools have changed its tactics for applying for Needs Based Capital Grant funding for school construction. Officials with the local system have opted for an approach that breaks the needs of the three high schools into phases in hopes that a smaller dollar amount request may yield a positive outcome.
“When we think about the next phase of construction for Surry County Schools we look at our three high schools. Obviously, you know the needs,” Dr. Travis Reeves said to the board of commissioners during his recent budget presentation.
The school system was making a request for a budget increase from Surry County for architectural design fees Reeves said, “To go ahead and get started on campus master planning. Over the past several years, we have purchased property and it’s now time, we believe, to start designing what that new campus looks like…for the next 50 years, 60 years, on all three campuses.”
He told the commissioners that after a few failed rounds of applying for grants from the North Carolina Needs Based Capital Grant fund, that Surry County Schools decided to call in a new play. “Our goal was to break these renovations into four phases and so as we think about the Needs Based Grant, we had applied for one massive grant and if we break it down into four phases, then we can start to apply for smaller chunks of the grant.”
As a tactic that makes sense in several ways according to the superintendent, one of which would be to reduce the impact to students of large construction or renovations. He said that if you have a high school with 800 kids, “There’s got to be the phasing approach, you can’t do the whole high school at once so you’re going to spread it out over several years.”
With the additional funds for design fees Reeves said they can get the ball rolling on the planning stages which will have the county sitting closer to being shovel ready when and if a grant should be approved.
Reeves said work has been underway since last fall on a plan for the high schools. “We are working with Bill Powell on a new 10-year facility study…As part of that he is going to be helping us divide the project into phases which will help to inform us as we go forward.”
“We’re asking to go ahead and let’s design it, hire an architect to design this master campus and then let’s go ahead and design Phase One which we believe is a new kitchen and cafeteria renovations at Surry Central and East Surry High,” he said.
“Those are two targeted areas; you said the congestion on our tours. We started at our two area high schools that have congestion and then ended at North Surry to see what it could look like, what it should look like with that renovation” which has already been completed on that campus.
The needs across the state are varied and Surry County Schools are being weighed in their applications on several factors. In a recent discussion with outgoing Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt, she expressed to Reeves that there were other systems whose finances were more dire.
“In talking with Truitt, I had a meeting with her in Asheville and I brought this up and she said there were so many schools especially far East and far West that just don’t have the tax base that they could do anything. So, obviously there are a lot of factors that go into the formula for awarding Needs Based Grant,” Reeves explained to the commissioners.
Need based grants are funded with revenue from the NC Education Lottery and are only available to counties with an adjusted market value of taxable real property of less than $40 billion, which takes seven school systems out of the running such as Wake, Forsyth, and Buncombe counties.
Commissioner Eddie Harris wanted to ensure his understanding was correct and that the previous tactic was being forgone in lieu of a more targeted approach.
Reeves confirmed. “We have asked Mr. Powell to go ahead and help us with the phases and thinking about phasing our high school construction and potentially chunking, rather than a $60 million project, let’s get it into smaller chunks that maybe are a little easier to access funds.”
“If we already have this design work, and if we’re working on that design and we are awarded a grant, we’re ready to roll in 18 months, which is really the kicker — you have to go ahead and get that work started,” Reeves said.
“We know how much time it can take with recent construction on the jail. That was a long-term project with a long planning process where you had to have the vision, you had to design it, and then you have to bid it out.”
Having plans in hand he said will help keep costs down, in theory. “If we have to wait two years to bid something, even if we got the grant, I’m afraid whatever we design we couldn’t afford it because costs keep going up.”
“It will also help us prioritize needs…so we are not ping-ponging back and forth from one emergency need to another, there is more intentional planning to help us set the stage for the next 50, 60, 75 years for the high schools,” Reeves said.
County Manager Chris Knopf said that design fees would not be a part of the general fund budget and said they would be moved out of the multi-year school’s capital project fund. “We would transfer funds in the from the capital fund and we would anticipate being reimbursed if we were awarded the grant,” Finance Officer Laura Neely added.
“This would put us on the trajectory to start the work. We’ve talked about work, but this puts us on the trajectory to start the work and really actualize what we have,” Reeves said. “It helps us plan the campuses and helps us decide how to spend the capital funds…and be intentional with the planning.
“You have helped us expand these campus footprints for a very good reason, and I think it helps us set the vision for what the next generation of these high schools looks like.”
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