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JACKSON – Northampton County’s Board of Education met face to face with the Board of Commissioners at a special meeting here Dec. 11 to discuss options for the new high school construction project.

With construction bids over the projected budget for the project, the school board is currently looking into other funding options, and wanted to bring the commissioners up to speed on that status.

Phil Matthews, who serves as Special Assistant to the Northampton Schools Superintendent, presented an overview of the project. He explained that the district currently has $62 million in grant funding from the state’s Needs-Based Public School Capital Fund. Those funds come from lottery proceeds and there is no required county match to receive those funds.

Originally, the district had received $50 million, but due to rising costs from inflation, the state allowed districts to apply for up to $12 million more in funding. Northampton was approved for those additional funds, bringing their total up to the current $62 million.

“With this additional money, it allowed us to include vocational (CTE) classrooms into the school,” Matthews explained.

The plan for a new centrally-located high school has been in the works for years.

Matthews showed a map of where students live throughout Northampton County, and the highest concentration were located in the eastern half. The current high school is located in Gaston, on the western end. He also noted that students currently taking CTE classes must travel 30 miles (one-way) from Gaston to the site in Creeksville twice a week.

The site for the new school will be located just outside the Jackson town limits on Highway 305 North.

Matthews also presented a breakdown of the budget information and how the project costs have exceeded their grant funding.

Before the project was put out for bids, they had an estimated budget that came in just under $62 million. That budget doesn’t include some additional options, such as adding a baseball/softball field, an outdoor classroom, an electronic sign, and more, which would have put the project over budget.

The bids, however, came back higher than they anticipated, even without the additional options. Matthews pointed out that athletic equipment (such as scoreboards, bleachers, etc) was $1.9 million more than estimated, HVAC was $1.3 million higher than estimated, and the turnkey electrical was a staggering $5 million more than estimated.

The district has been working with Bordeaux Construction as the Construction Manager for the project, and they are still trying to adjust and remove things from the project to get back within budget.

But Matthews reported that they still are over-budget, despite their efforts.

“We don’t feel like there’s anything else we can take out of the project without hurting what the school is supposed to do,” he explained.

The next option would be to start eliminating offerings such as athletics, CTE program, arts, and more. But he stressed that no one wanted to pursue those options, which is why they’re currently trying to seek more funding instead.

Commissioner Melvetta Broadnax Taylor said she would hate to see those things cut.

“I feel like they’re just imperative to recruiting students,” she said.

“We had some of the same feelings,” said Northampton Superintendent Dr. Rosa Atkins. “We want the best for our students. We had to ask ourselves, are we prepared to offer our students less in the new high school than what we’ve been offering them. That’s not a pathway we would want to venture down.”

She emphasized that they’re focusing on seeking additional funding so that they would be able to complete the school construction project with everything it needs.

One of those potential options are New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC).

Board Attorney Rod Malone explained the program to the commissioners as he previously did with the school board when they held a special called meeting about the possibility on Nov. 25.

The NMTC program was created by the federal government several years ago in order to attract wealthy individual and corporate investors to low-income communities. Those investors receive tax credits in return for investing in intermediaries called community development entities, who then invest the funds in projects in low-income areas. The US Treasury awards only a certain amount of New Market Tax Credits each year.

“The good news about this New Markets Tax Credit money is, if you get it in your project, you don’t have to pay it back,” Malone said.

He noted that other school districts in the state, including Jones County and Hoke County, have utilized NMTC money to help fund their school construction projects.

“It opened the door to being able to provide for their students opportunities that they otherwise wouldn’t have been able to provide without those funds,” he said.

The Board of Education recently entered into an agreement with a company that helps connect projects with investors, and Malone said they were optimistic about their chances.

Commissioner Kelvin Edwards asked if exploring this option would delay the start of construction, which was originally scheduled for January 2025.

Malone didn’t give a definite answer, but said they’re still working with Bordeaux to see what they could move forward with if they don’t get any additional funding. He also said that it usually takes about 90 days to close on the NMTC funds, if received, so that would be around May 2025.

He cautioned that waiting longer to start construction would mean even higher construction costs, thanks to inflation.

“There’s a lot of urgency to move forward,” he said.

Dr. Atkins pointed out that the important thing would be to get the bidder under contract sooner rather than later. She said they would like to speak before the Board of Commissioners during their meeting next month to get permission to proceed with the construction project.

Both boards agreed to form a joint sub-committee to meet on Dec. 18 to iron out details before the school board made their request at the commissioners’ meeting on Jan. 6. That sub-committee will include both Board Chairs and Vice Chairs, the County Manager, the Superintendent, and attorneys for both boards.

In addition to the NMTC funding option, Malone also mentioned other potential sources of funding. Both boards previously entered into an agreement where the county would receive the sales tax refunds from the construction project. Malone noted that those funds (estimated to be around $1.2 million) could be contributed back to the construction project. There is also a possibility that the district could receive an estimated $1.5 to $1.8 million rebate on the project’s geothermal system. But he said there was no guarantee that federal rebate will continue in the future.

Neither of those refunds, however, would fully fund the shortfall. Right now, both boards are hoping the NMTC funds will be available to bridge the funding gap.

BOE Vice Chair Clinton Williams said he believed investors would want to support their construction project.

“We’re trying to get this for our children because we know they deserve this,” said school board member Dr. Marjorie Edwards.