The aging New Hanover High School facility is currently having maintenance done, but needs far more extensive work or even replacement. According to staff, several options are under development — including plans for a new school at a new location and a renovation of the current building, which could also include an expansion.
Dr. Rob Morgan, who took over as head of operations from Eddie Anderson, told the board and the public that the design team of Monteith and LSP3 would eventually present several different plans for the high school, such as a new school built on a new site, a renovation of the school, plus an expansion of the buildings, or just a renovation.
WHQR has been asking for the draft plans since the end of April, when Superintendent Dr. Christopher Barnes announced at an agenda review that the district had received them. According to case law on public records, most draft plans are subject to release. Guidance from the Attorney General's Office states that agencies can't withhold records based on their belief that the release isn't "prudent or timely." The NHCS communications department has not responded to follow-up requests and has not provided any legal explanation for withholding the plans.
On Tuesday night, Democratic board members Judy Justice and Tim Merrick told the public that both school board members and county commissioners had received documentation on the plans, asking why the community couldn't see them as well.
Morgan acknowledged that the commissioners and board members had met with the design team to review the plans in small groups. This was likely to avoid state open meetings law. He also said he was aware of requests for the documents but said they would wait until July, adding that the design team is making tweaks based on what was said in those meetings.
"We went back to the drawing board with some things," Morgan said.
Republican Board member Pat Bradford said she was glad the public didn't have access to the current plans, as they aren't finished. Vice Chair Josie Barnhart said she didn't understand why the public needed them now, as they would be brought forward in July.
When WHQR asked the former head of operations, Eddie Anderson, in 2024 what a school renovation would cost, he said he would be at a minimum of $100 million. Given the inflationary pressures and staggering increases in local property value increases, that number will almost definitely increase.
Morgan also mentioned a possible school bond in the future — it's been discussed among the board and the commission, but nothing has been set in stone.
Continuation of culling words from policy
With Merrick and Justice dissenting and Board Member Pete Wildeboer absent, the board voted 4-2 to pass policies about crowdfunding and advertising in schools. In the policy on crowdfunding, Merrick didn't understand why 'inequity' needed to be replaced with the word 'discrepancy.' The sentence in question used to read, "In the judgment of the principal/supervisor, the proposed campaign would produce unacceptable inequity in the educational environment."
Merrick told the board that the word 'equity' is not illegal. Justice told her colleagues to leave the words alone.
The same arguments ensued when they discussed advertising policy, that it had to be professional and not "vulgar, indecent, or obscene; (2) contains libelous statements, personal attacks, or abusive language, such as language defaming a person’s character, race, religion, ethnic origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting status), family status, or disability; (3) causes or clearly threatens to cause a material and substantial disruption of a school activity; (4) encourages the commission of unlawful acts or the violation of lawful school regulations; (5) is inappropriate considering the age of the students in the school; (6) includes information that is inaccurate, misleading, or false; or (7) is for any product or service not permitted to minors by law."
The phrase 'parenting status' previously read 'sexual orientation' and 'gender identity.'
The board voted to table a slew of other policies for the time being and to respond to Merrick's question about why their business policies, including bidding for construction work, culled the phrases 'women-owned' and 'minority-owned' in the context of valuing those vendors that do business with the school system.
Justice reiterated that editing these policies wasn't fair to the community and that she was tired of fights over politics.
Editor's Note: This article originally had "tweaks" in quotations. It has been updated to reflect a summation of Rob Morgan's remarks.
