Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Representatives from two architectural firms met with Stanly County School Board members in a March 12 work session as the district seeks a firm with which to partner in addressing future facility needs and plans.
The companies (Moseley Architects and SFL+A Architects) discussed a number of traditional and non-traditional funding strategies in meeting such needs. Discussions with each firm included much emphasis on grants available through the Needs-Based Public School Capital Fund (NBPSCF) of the NC Department of Public Instruction, as well as more conventional methods such as local option sales taxes or bond referendums.
Stanly is designated as a Tier 2 county by the NC Department of Commerce, and Bill Laughlin of Moseley outlined a list of criteria and strategies for Tier 2 counties in making a NBPSCF grant application.
“Tier 2 counties, like Stanly, must demonstrate critical needs and strong local support, impact on student outcomes and critical deficiencies, and a reasonable project size and scope based on enrollment projections,” he said.
Laughlin also noted the importance of collaboration between county government and the school system, as well as the advantage an above-standard local match could provide in procuring such a grant.
“Stanly County would have a minimum 5% local match requirement,” he said. “If that percentage can be exceeded, it demonstrates the county’s commitment and helps in strengthening the competitiveness of the grant application.”
In his presentation, Robert Ferris of SFL+A also spoke to the significance of a higher local match.
“It’s a really big deal when a county puts in extra (matching funds),” he said, citing success experienced by school systems in Washington and Hoke counties, with whom the firm had partnered previously.
Both firms noted that primary criteria used to evaluate grant applications (full criteria available at https://www.dpi.nc.gov) include “projects that will consolidate two or more schools into one new facility.”
Ferris noted success stories involving consolidations of facilities in Jones, Bladen and Pamlico counties, with which SFL+A had partnered.
“We were able to highlight the challenges and limitations of existing school facilities, and to demonstrate the savings in operating expenses that can be realized through consolidating older and smaller facilities,” he said.
Laughlin espoused Moseley’s public input process, noting the firm would gather feedback through facilitating engagement through different forums and mediums.
“We have been able to navigate sensitive issues and challenges for our clients, and turn them into opportunities,” he said.
Procrastination in addressing school facility needs has been a problem in many counties, with the average per-square-foot cost of school construction increasing from $33 in 1993 to $207 currently.
“If you wait, costs are only going to go up,” said Ferris.
“Most counties have not been thinking long-term enough,” he added. “They’ve just been putting band-aids on schools for too long. I don’t know where your county is.”
“That’s it,” said board member Dustin Lisk.
“If we put this off another 10 years, our buildings are going to fall in,” added board member Glenda Gibson, who recognized the foresight of Stanly County leaders in 1960, when the county consolidated its 10 high schools into three.
“It makes me think of generations before us who recognized in this county that we needed to consolidate then, and so they built our high schools, which created vibrant communities and a sustainable future,” she said. “Now it is upon us. We are the generation, and the young people (on the BOE), you are the generation to continue to work toward strong schools.”

Toby Thorpe is a freelance writer for The Stanly News & Press.