CMS board approves
$620.7 million bond request
by Kathleen E. Conroy
kathleen@thecharlotteweekly.com

The request passed on a 7-2 vote, despite the failure of a $427 million school bond referendum two years ago. Dissenting voters included Kaye McGarry, an at-large school board member, and Larry Gauvreau, who represents District 1.

The record-breaking bond amount, if signed off by the county commissioners by August to go on the November ballot, asks Charlotte voters to purchase land and build and renovate schools to meet unprecedented future growth.

The school board’s final vote came after an exhausting meeting where members reviewed of six options assembled by the CMS facilities staff. The board settled on the final amount after amending a last-minute option requested by member Trent Merchant, also an at-large member. The figures in that option rose considerably when the board learned that county commissioners also requested that inflation be figured into the bond request.

Under the terms of the amended option chosen by the board, CMS will seek funding for 51 projects. About 70 percent of them will address needs created by growth, about 27 percent will address renovation needs and the remainder will be allocated to mandates and initiatives.

The six options ranged from $402.6 million to fund 33 projects to $1.4 billion to fund 122 projects. Each option divided the requested money among growth, renovation and mandates/initiatives.

Prior to the meeting, McGarry told Charlotte Weekly she hoped to see the bond figure stay at about $400 million but would consider a compromise to one of the options that asked for about $560 million.

“Peter Gorman has worked 24/7 and has only been here nine months (and yet) has gained the trust and confidence of the public,” McGarry said of CMS’s superintendent. “The school board has not changed one iota. We are still the same. How can my fellow board members sit there and say ‘community, community’ over and over? I think the voters deserve better than that.”