New Washington Elementary School--Taxpayer debacle continues | Eastern North Carolina Now

You have never seen a more foolish waste of YOUR money than this

ENCNow

January 16, 2025

By: Ray Leary

The Beaufort County School Board, during a regular meeting on January 7, 2025, was informed of a land ownership issue on the Eastern Elementary School site. The board was informed that the City of Washington has reneged on an agreement to transfer ownership of approximately four acres of land on the Eastern Elementary site. This information prompted the board leadership to engage Hite Associates, the contracted architect, to change the layout of the new school on the site to accommodate the decision by the City of Washington, NC. Hite Associates reported that making these changes would likely result in several months of delay in the construction of the new school.

The Beaufort County School board met Friday, January 10, 2025, in closed session, to attempt a resolution to the approximately four acres of property situated on the site where planning and engineering has been underway for seven months. This is the site of the existing Eastern Elementary school. It turns out the school board has been aware that a portion of the new school site is owned by the City of Washington, NC, and they have known this since July 2024.

The school board determined there are two paths forward; 1) Swap a portion of the school property located on North Pierce Street for the city owned property at the Eastern Elementary site, or 2) The school board and the county could purchase the four acres of land. The proposed cost to the county commissioners and school board is $500,000. When asked how the $500,000 price tag was determined, Superintendent Cheeseman responded that it was an estimate he had received of $100,000/acre - $150,000/acre.

These were the choices presented to the county commissioners during a specially called meeting on January 14, 2025.

After discussions of each option, a vote on the first option was called. The vote was four to three to not accept this option. Commissioners Booth, Langley, Waters, and Walker voted to reject this option. Commissioner Langley said he could not support a direct swap because the value of each piece of property is not equal. None of the other dissenters explained their lack of support for the direct swap.

The second option was voted upon. The same four commissioners voted to purchase approximately four acres of property for the proposed $500,000. Superintendent Dr. Matthew Cheeseman said the school board would contribute the uncommitted sales tax revenue due to the school system and the county could pay the additional $250,000 from the unallocated fund balance.  When asked by Commissioner Stan Deatherage how the $500,000 was supported by a competent appraisal, Cheeseman explained that he had determined the $500,000 himself based on how much money the Board has available in uncommitted Sales Tax Revenue.  No certified appraisal has been done!

There are several observations and critiques of this project since its inception in February 2024. The public has not been involved and kept informed as they should have been. The county commissioners have been kept in the dark related to the resolution of the land ownership issue. Two commissioners and the county manager have been involved in these discussions, but the remainder of the board have been left out of those discussions.

The Department of Public Instruction did not perform a legally required “reasonableness” study of this proposed school project prior to the issuance of the $42M grant to the Beaufort County Schools. This was and is a statutory requirement which was completely ignored by the DPI, school board, and county commission.

§ 115C 546.11 (d) The Department of Public Instruction shall review projected enrollment to evaluate the reasonableness of a project's size and scope.

Should this project be evaluated as stated above, the traffic issues would have been made obvious. The traffic backup on 15th and 12th streets in Washington would have been recognized as backups to Market Street Extension would be apparent. The left turn lane from east on Highway 264 would be seen backed up to Brick Kiln Road. The right lane on John Small Avenue will be backed up to Market Street. There appears to be no access to the student drop off area from Pennsylvania Avenue. Traffic congestion on Highland Avenue will also be negatively affected.

The closure of the John Cotton Tayloe elementary school has not been reconciled with the NC General Statutes regarding the closure of a public school. See 115C-72 below.

§ 115C-72.  Consolidation of districts and discontinuance of schools.

(a) Local boards of education shall have the power and authority to close or consolidate schools located in the same district, and with the approval of the State Board of Education, to consolidate school districts or other school areas over which the board has full control, whenever and wherever in its judgment the closing or consolidation will better serve the educational interest of the local school administrative unit or any part of it.

In determining whether two or more public schools shall be consolidated, or in determining whether or not a school shall be closed and the pupils transferred therefrom, local boards of education of the several counties shall observe and be bound by the following rules:

(1) In any question involving the closing or consolidation of any public school, the local board of education of the school administrative unit in which such school is located shall cause a thorough study of such school to be made, having in mind primarily the welfare of the students to be affected by a proposed closing or consolidation and including in such study, among other factors, geographic conditions, anticipated increase or decrease in school enrollment, the inconvenience or hardship that might result to the pupils to be affected by such closing or consolidation, the cost of providing additional school facilities in the event of such closing or consolidation, and such other factors as the board shall consider germane. Before the entry of any order of closing or consolidation, the local board of education shall provide for a public hearing in regard to such proposed closing or consolidation, at which hearing the public shall be afforded an opportunity to express their views. Upon the basis of the study so made and after such hearing, said board may, in the exercise of its discretion, approve the closing or consolidation proposed. (Emphasis added).

(2) The provisions of this section shall not deprive any local board of education of the authority to assign or enroll any and all pupils in schools in accordance with the provisions of G.S. 115C-366(b) and 115C-367 to 115C-370.

These issues must be addressed by competent entities:  Future school attendance projections, technical, DOT, and the legal authorities to determine the impact of this proposed new school consolidation and the closing of an elementary school on the west side of Washington, NC. These decisions should be made according to law and with competent professionals who are proficient in their field. The superintendent and the school board are not engineers nor a competent projector of growth.

The projected growth in Beaufort County is west of Washington. Any new school should be situated close to the Beaufort-Pitt County line, not on the eastern side of Washington. The grade structure of existing schools that are at 50% capacity should be evaluated to assess the ramifications of modifying to accommodate growth in student populations in attendance areas outside of the Washington attendance area.

Perhaps the biggest issue is the bussing.  The proposed plan would continue the cross-town busing that was used in desegregating the pre-merger of the Washington District.  The proposed plan would cause students to be bussed across town to Eastern.  The growth in the Washington Attendance Area will be west of Washington as a result of the proposed interstate connector between the Greenville By-pass and U. S. 17 north of Washington.  Thus, reduced by moving to a K-5 or K-8, with one school of the west side of Washington and the other on the east side (current Eastern Elementary).  Moreover, a full student reassignment plan for K-8 grades in the Washington Attendance should include greater utilization of the existing John Small and P. S. Jones facilities off Market Street.  None of this planning has been done and the project of a mega-school on the Eastern Site should be reviewed based on a solid planning process.  This has not been done to date.

These are serious issues the school board must address. If not, the school board will be faced with another overcrowded school issue within three to four years.


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Comments

( January 25th, 2025 @ 8:45 pm )
 
Maybe it is time to get someone with some business sense in a high administrative office at Beaufort County Schools, and to get a local school board attorney who is physically present to ride herd on major projects such as this, not one way off in Raleigh. This school ought to be named the CHeeseman Boondoggle Elementary School.
Big Bob said:
( January 25th, 2025 @ 8:09 pm )
 
Maybe it’s you?
( January 25th, 2025 @ 5:31 pm )
 
Expecting a liberal education bureaucrat to understand business world concepts is like expecting a chimpanzee to know how to use a computer. Why do they keep giving this boob raise after raise and automatically extending his contract? It seems to me the money he has cost our taxpayers should be DEDUCTED from his pay and the sooner they can get him out of his contract the better.
Van Zant said:
( January 25th, 2025 @ 4:45 pm )
 
Ever notice how these episodes of poor planning and lack of preparation always ends up costing the taxpaying citizens of Beaufort County money?
( January 25th, 2025 @ 12:38 pm )
 
Will, without a disclaimer, Cheesaman is declaring the actual value of this property and would need to produce a certified value to prove his validity. If presented to a bank, this could be a fraudulent action.
( January 23rd, 2025 @ 7:10 pm )
 
So Cheese is adding real estate appraisal to the resume now lol

How is the value of a piece of land determined by what the buyer has in their bank account?

“How much does it cost?”
“How much you got?”

There is no way 4 acres is worth 500,000 unless gold can be mined on site

Wasn’t the president recently charged for crimes involving the overvaluing of real estate?

Seems there is precedent now for this exact situation.
( January 20th, 2025 @ 4:36 pm )
 
Anyone who truly understands history knows that both Lee and King were great men. Those who want to revere one and denounce the other is a radical ideologue. The rewriting of history is done by the far left such as the leftist 1619 Project, which even its creator admits is not real history.

Leftists tend to ignore that one of their own heavy weights at the time the War Between the States was actually in progrss clearly stated it was NOT about slavery. Karl Marx wrote "the war is not about slavery; it is a war of economic subjugation by the north against the south."

We Conservatives look more to the writings of Sir Winston Churchill who identifies slavery as one of the minor causes of the war or of contemporary British anti-slavery leader novleist Charles Dickens calling the north's claim to be fighting against slavery as "specious humbug designed to disguise their desire for economic control of the south.".

President Dwight Eisenhower kept a portrait of General Lee as an outstanding American on display in the Oval Office. President Eisenhower is a better judge of history than far left internet troll Little Bobbie.
Big Bob said:
( January 20th, 2025 @ 2:50 pm )
 
The attempts to rewrite history are amusing if the goal was not to forget and repeat it. Anywho….

Two birthdays, one day. One fought in support of slavery, the other actually ended it.

You get to choose which you want to celebrate.
It’s not a tough choice. One was a traitor to the US, the other a hero.
( January 20th, 2025 @ 11:42 am )
 
Martin Luther King and Robert E. Lee were born on the same day roughly a century apart, both great men.

"Slavery is an institution of moral and political evil" - Robert E. Lee, 1859

"People should be judged on the content of their character, not the color of thier skin" - Martin Luther King, 1963
Big Bob said:
( January 20th, 2025 @ 10:57 am )
 
Btw-happy MLK day to all.
( January 20th, 2025 @ 11:18 am )
 
The fact is Bob, that black candidates had run for office is Beaufort County for a variety of offices. We had a black Washington City Councilman who was top votegetter and Mayor Pro Tem due to all the white vote he received. We had a black Republican who had been head of security nationally for McDonalds corporation who was top votegetter in the first round of the Republican sheriff primary over multiple white challengers due almost entirely to white votes as few blacks were registered Republican in those days, and won a landslide one on one with a white opponent in the runoff. When it came to the general election however, the black voters voted for the white Democrat over this very well qualified black Republican. We had a black deputy sheriff in Hyde County challenge white dingbat Howard Chapin in the Democrat primary for NC House, but Beaufort County black voters voted for the white Chapin.

I am also only looking at elections close in time to the VRA lawsuit from David Moore. If you go back to Reconstruction, I think there were some black Republicans elected to local office then.

I did not "miss" your points, BOb. I annihalated them.
Big Bob said:
( January 20th, 2025 @ 10:53 am )
 
Oh I see you missed my point. Let me clarify. I find a lot of what passes for truth is so steeped in conspiracy theory and fear that facts are rendered meaningless.

I find most viewpoints contain a kernel of truth but quickly go off the rails.
Example- no black candidate had run for office to establish a pattern. While true, I wonder why that was? Why in 200 years had no black candidate run for office? I just can’t figure that one out.
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