Matthew Cropper is the owner and president of Cropper GIS. It’s a consulting firm that provides data on the planning process for the district’s schools.
Cropper said the data shows, “overcrowding exists at all levels in your schools, elementary, middle, and high school. The only way to resolve these and bring them out of the red like they are is to add space to the schools of this district.”
He added that in New Hanover, “this need is not for students that are coming, this is the need is for students that are here right now. So, the need is immediate in terms of space.” He followed by saying the district couldn’t “redistrict [their] way out of the overcrowding issue.”
However, this same data shows under-enrollment in schools that have a high free and reduced lunch student population, a sign of lower socioeconomic status.
Cropper did say that with the next round of redistricting, the schools will need to make them as “demographically diverse as possible,” meaning that there’s racial balance in the district.
He also acknowledged that the district is experiencing some degree of declining enrollment, but that a “drop in enrollment won’t fix the overcrowding in high schools.”
Cropper added that there are some ideas to build two new schools — an elementary school in the RiverLights neighborhood near Mary C. Williams Elementary, and a middle school on SEA-Tech’s campus — and turn the existing Trask Middle School, located a few miles away from SEA-Tech, into part of neighboring Laney School to increase capacity.
Other improvements suggested by the firm were to expand the capacity of Mary C. Williams, Pine Valley, Porter’s Neck, Masonboro, and Alderman Elementary Schools.
Board member Hugh McManus said he was surprised that building another secondary wasn’t on the table.
“So I thought at one time we were discussing another high school and it doesn't sound like we are,” McManus said.
Assistant Superintendent Eddie Anderson said that building a new high school would cost well over $100 million.
McManus, along with other board members, reiterated that something had to be done to revamp New Hanover High School, which is also under-enrolled.
At one point, Anderson said that while Cropper GIS’s findings could be used in the decision-making process for the board — ultimately, it’s up to them. Cropper agreed that these don’t take into account the superintendent and board’s priorities.
New Hanover County Commissioner Dane Scalise asked the question: what’s all this going to cost if they commit to the Cropper suggestions?
Anderson responded he hadn’t run the numbers yet. Scalise said, “Is it hundreds of millions of dollars?” Anderson said, “Yes, sir.”
The commission and the school board are debating whether to have a bond on the November ballot, which would help to expand capacity at existing schools and build new ones.
The last school bond was passed in 2014, and New Hanover County Manager Chris Coudriet said the county is still paying off $111 million of debt on the overall $160 million bond.
The decision would have to be made by May, said Coudriet, so that they have enough time to make the case before the Local Government Commission. The county would also have to look at its debt capacity, too, since the schools are just one component of it.
Superintendent Dr. Charles Foust said he’s finishing up his zero-sum budgeting with his departments. After that, he plans on working with the school board and Chief Financial Officer Ashley Sutton to finalize the operational and capital asks of the county commission. He said he’s likely to present to them sometime in February.
Below: Cropper GIS presentation to NHCS.
