Area school systems would benefit from a statewide $1.9 billion construction bond referendum issue proposed through a recent bill submitted by an area legislator.
State Sen. Jerry Tillman, R-Randolph, is a cosponsor of Senate Bill 542, which would present the public school construction issue to North Carolina voters in a referendum next year. Tillman, a Senate majority whip in the Republican-controlled N.C. General Assembly, said the money raised from the bond sale would fill a need for long-needed public school construction and classroom needs.
Tillman told The High Point Enterprise that he believes he can secure bipartisan support to pass Senate Bill 542 during this year's session of the General Assembly. The legislation has Democratic cosponsors and has received support from statewide education groups.
If the Public School Building Bond Act is approved, the school construction bond referendum issue would be put before state voters in the November 2018 general election. Four area school systems -- Guilford, Davidson and Randolph County and the city of Thomasville -- would receive $87.3 million in proceeds.
The last statewide bond issue targeting school classroom needs was taken up 21 years ago, said Tillman, a retired educator and administrator with the Randolph County Schools.
"We've had a bond issue for many other things -- infrastructure, the universities. But we left public schools out. There are a huge backlog of needs out there for school construction," he said.
Tillman said the state is in a solid revenue position that would allow North Carolina to repay the bond without tax increases.
"We are running a surplus now, which may reach three quarters of a billion dollars by the end of June. It's above $500 million now," he said. "Our bonding indebtedness situation is good. We could afford it without losing our bond rating. I think the time is right to do it."
If Senate Bill 542 is passed by the General Assembly and approved by voters in the fall of next year, school systems across the state would submit plans to the State Board of Education for their projects, according to the legislation.
