The $900,000 consultant’s study on the condition of Guilford County Schools is in and it’s a shocker—close 10 schools and spend close to $1.5 billion “to get all its school buildings across the district to a ‘new or like new’ condition by around 2038. And –as you can imagine—the recommendation was to put a bond on the ballot—either in 2020 or 2021–to pay for it.
Probably the biggest surprise is the recommendation to close Kiser Middle School, which is the feeder middle school to Greensboro’s flagship high school, Grimsley–formerly known as “Greensboro High School.” Greensboro is unusual —different from Raleigh and Charlotte—in the sense that there are many natives still living here—and went to Kiser. I can’t imagine there would not be an outcry over that recommendation.
Mind you, the report is just a “jumping off point” for GCS board members and county commissioners “to think about how they will address the challenges posed by the condition of district buildings and how those buildings can best be put to use.” Stay tuned—school bonds are contentious subjects, so this will be interesting to watch unfold.
