Lindsay Marchello reports for Carolina Journal that Stough Elementary school, built in Wake County in 1968, will soon be torn down and rebuilt. The project will cost more than $37 million. This is not the only school in need of new construction and, in 2016, the Department if Public Instruction reported that North Carolina public schools needed $8.1 billion for new school facilities or renovations.

“Wake County is one of the fortunate counties that stepped up and provided a bond referendum for school construction,” Gov. Roy Cooper said during a July 11 tour of Stough Elementary.

While Wake County has the tax base to be able to pass a bond, the same can’t be said for low-income counties with shrinking populations.

Richard Bostic, assistant director at the N.C. School Board Association, said low-income counties have a hard time raising revenue to meet construction needs.

Traditional public school buildings cost anywhere between $19 million and $60 million to build; however, public charter schools often find ways to reduce these costs because of lack of access to state and local funds.

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