Guilford County Schools has a large question mark looming over its plans to rebuild Eastern Guilford High School: How does it pay construction bills when it doesn't know how much state insurers will offer for fire damage?
Without an answer, school officials plan to request from the Board of Commissioners enough money to cover the new school. They estimate the school — destroyed by fire Nov. 1 — will cost $61 million to rebuild and furnish.
The Board of Education voted Thursday to authorize Chief Finance Officer Sharon Ozment to seek $53 million in financing through a certificate of participation for the construction during the commissioner's meeting April 19.
The district would use $8 million in insurance funds fronted by the state Department of Public Instruction until the two agencies reach a final settlement on the high school.
"If this was any other kind of project ... I would have voted no," board member Anita Sharpe said after the vote. "I believe $53 million is too high."
Ozment suggested the school board use leftover dollars from the certificate of participation to cover projects under consideration for a proposed bond referendum if the new Eastern costs less than $61 million or if insurance proceeds provide a surplus.
"What I'm advising you to do is ask for what you know you will need so that in May you don't find you can't enter into a construction contract," Wilson said.
The school board also voted Thursday to award contracts to Barnhill Contracting Co. in amounts up to $2.9 million to survey and grade the Gibsonville school site for both the new school and to construct a temporary modular classroom village.
Students, who are temporarily housed at GTCC in Greensboro and a university research campus in Browns Summit, will move into the village next school year and stay there until Eastern reopens in 2009.
* Narrowly approved a request for facilities consultant Joe Hill to develop a bond package totaling $450 million including inflation for the April 10 meeting. The board aims to finalize the list then and hold a public forum.
* Heard from district officials, principals and teachers about changes this year in middle school scheduling that would increase the time spent in math and language arts courses. The board will revisit the changes at its April 10 meeting.
* The school board voted to table until April 10 discussion of Hebert's proposal to give some High Point families the choice to opt out of a 2006 redistricting plan. Hebert said he is hoping to curb the outflow of students from Andrews High School who were redistricted from Southwest High.
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