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Representatives from each school district voted unanimously to seek the services of a consultant from the state Department of Public Instruction's plant operations division, who would hopefully also work with personnel in the school planning division.
Three schools are being considered for replacement using county funds - Eastman Middle in the Halifax County Schools district, Manning Elementary in the Roanoke Rapids Graded School District and Weldon High in the Weldon City Schools district. The county can only afford to replace one at a time.
The consultant would be asked to first look at those three schools and give a recommendation on the order they should be replaced in. The adviser would then be asked to help prioritize a long list of renovation projects, which include several high-priority roofing projects for all three school districts and Halifax Community College.
The plant operations and school planning divisions have engineers, roofers and other professionals on staff who can provide expertise when looking at each school, said Roanoke Rapids Maintenance Director Doug Miller.
Halifax County Manager Matthew Delk said a consultant could offer ideas or solutions they never even thought of. He will contact DPI immediately and begin the process. It's not known how soon a consultant would be available.
Halifax County Board of Commissioners Chairman James Pierce said he was optimistic committee members could still work together and come to a consensus, using a consultant's recommendation as one factor but not the deciding factor.
He also said the recommendation would be beneficial to him as a commissioner if the board is charged with making the decision because the committee couldn't resolve the issue.
They have time to seek outside expertise, he added, as “It's not like we're sitting on a pot of money waiting to build a school.” The county has $31 million in outstanding debt right now, he said, which includes payments for the new DSS building as well as newer school buildings such as Belmont Elementary and Weldon Middle.
Roanoke Rapids school board Chair Vernon Bryant asked what they would have to do to build two schools, and Pierce said they would probably have to look at passing a bond issue.
There are some other things they can look into, he added, including the $2 million to $3 million that would be saved by the county if the state takes over Medicaid, money from the proposed statewide school bond and perhaps even pooling the three districts' lottery proceeds.
“We've got to be creative in what we do,” he said.
‘A great dialogue'
To open the discussion, Weldon school board Chair Pattie Cotton said a lot of emphasis is being put on high schools right now. Biology is one of the subject areas tested, and Weldon High students aren't ready for the 21st century, as they aren't able to meet state standards or testing requirements due to poor lab conditions.
They do need to look at the impact of facilities on academics and testing, Halifax County Schools Superintendent Geraldine Middleton said. She said that is one of the reasons to improve middle schools as they prepare youngsters for high school.
Roughly, Weldon High has an enrollment of 325 students, Manning has 670 students and Eastman has 250. It would cost about $18 million to $20 million for a new Weldon High and about $17 million for a new Manning Elementary.
Miller said they could serve more students for less money by replacing Manning. Weldon Superintendent Elie Bracy III said it's not how many they serve, but how they serve.
Manning was number one on the previous list, Bryant said, which should be considered when making a decision.
There was some debate about which school was next on the old list, however. Bracy said when Weldon Middle was replaced, the plan was to renovate Weldon High as a middle school which didn't happen.
But Bryant said that looking at the list, Roanoke Rapids was supposed to be the next school district to receive a new building.
Pierce said the needs and circumstances have changed over the last 20 years and the old list is not valuable now. The committee was formed to look at current needs, he added.
Academics should guide us, Halifax County school board member Donna Hunter said, and Weldon High is in bad shape, as they are not able to use the current facilities or meet standards. Students need to be able to compete in today's world and have to be brought up to date. She also said she could see Eastman Middle and Manning Elementary stepping back and allowing Weldon High to go ahead.
Bryant said that if Weldon High was next on the list, he'd say go ahead, they have to be fair. But he is concerned that the conditions at Manning are not safe. They can talk academics, but safety should come first, he added.
Cotton said she's talking about all things - academics, safety and more. If it's about safety, they need to look at renovations and see what can be done.
Roanoke Rapids Superintendent Dennis Sawyer then made the suggestion to bring in an objective third party to look at the situation.
Middleton said she would not be opposed to an outsider because the criteria needs to be objective. She added that rural schools are not safe and are a long way away from emergency services. They also need to consider the cost ratio when looking at the schools, or how much money they would have to put in to repair the schools if they aren't replaced.
Could Weldon High students even compete against other high schools in the county?, Hunter asked. No, she said, and so her vote is to replace Weldon High.
Stanley Edwards, chairman of the Halifax Community College Board of Trustees and vice chair of the Weldon school board, said that when he looks at what is needed the most, “Weldon is the worst place in the world. I would be depressed to go in there as a student. You see bricks falling down, the building falling apart ... A student shouldn't have to face that. Weldon students are way above in terms of need.”
The facilities' shortcomings aren't factored into test scores, Cotton added, and it's hard to recruit teachers to work in such a building.
Bryant said he is a Weldon High graduate and understands the needs, but couldn't see how you could just kick the old list to the side. He said he knows it has to be updated, but “it's wrong if you don't look at that old list and give it some consideration.” He also said that if the old list isn't part of the criteria considered, Roanoke Rapids won't be a part of it.
Manning has a lot of younger children on an unsafe campus, he added, and they are also looking at other issues besides safety. “How would you feel if your school was next on the list?” he asked.
Pierce said bringing in someone objective sounded like a good idea after listening to the discussion.
“Why should we agonize over this? They offer this service; they can come in and use the right criteria and not be biased,” he said. “I think we could debate for a considerable amount of time and opinions wouldn't change.”
Meeting Facilitator and Halifax County Management Analyst Dia Denton agreed, saying she didn't see a lot of consensus, and that if someone was brought in, the county would be responsible for it.
“We've got time. We knew this was going to be a long process. We all knew this wasn't going to be pretty,” she said.
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