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Back in 2017, the first year I started working at this newspaper, I remember Dr. Monica Smith-Woofter – who was Northampton County Schools Superintendent at the time – came to a county commissioner meeting. She told them about a new grant program (the Needs-Based Public School Capital Fund) just created by the state legislature that would provide up to $15 million to districts for new construction. The catch, however, was that the county would have to provide a match of $5 million if they were awarded the grant.

The goal was to build a centrally-located high school in Jackson.

A couple years earlier, the district had shut down NCHS-East in Creeksville and consolidated all the students to NCHS-West in Gaston. This left students on the eastern end of the county stuck with long commute times (which were even longer if they rode a school bus).

Dr. Smith-Woofter told the commissioners at that 2017 meeting that they didn’t know how long this grant money would be available, so they couldn’t pass up the opportunity to apply for it. The commissioners agreed.

But the district was unsuccessful that year in being awarded one of those grants.

Northampton County Schools, however, continued submitting applications for the NBPSCF. In 2019, with Dr. Pamela Chamblee serving as school superintendent, the district was awarded the maximum $15 million to build the school. Now all they needed was the $5 million match from the commissioners, but ultimately, they never came to an agreement to provide that funding. The money was returned to the state without the project ever moving forward.

In 2021, the state legislature expanded the NBPSCF program, dropping the required county match and increasing the available funds statewide. Under Interim Superintendent Dr. Del Burns, the district attempted to apply again so that they could afford to build a centrally-located high school. They were successful in their application in 2022, first receiving $40 million, before that amount was then increased to $50 million.

The current superintendent, Dr. Rosa Atkins, took the helm and continue to move the project forward. Thanks to rising inflation from the pandemic, the state increased the grant amount once more, to the current total of $62 million.

As a reporter for this newspaper, I have continued to follow the story, and it looked like the dream of the new school was finally within grasp. Surely, $62 million would cover the construction cost, right?

But a few months ago, the construction bids came back over budget. As I have listened to school officials explain multiple times, they worked hard to remove parts of the project and change things to save money, but they’re still a few million short. They even sought other potential funding sources, such as New Markets Tax Credits, to help bridge the gap.

As a last resort, they’ve recently asked the commissioners for $4.19 million in funding – the last bit they need – in order to move forward. The Northampton Board of Education and the Board of Commissioners have met several times in the past two months to talk about this possibility.

The commissioners were expected to discuss the option further – and perhaps even vote on the decision – at their meeting on Jan. 22. But the snowstorm has pushed that meeting to Jan. 27 instead.

I hope the extra few days give the commissioners time to carefully consider their answer to this request.

Personally, as a resident of Northampton County myself, I would like to see them say yes. I would like to see the commissioners provide that $4.19 million which would mean that the high school construction project will move forward.

I’ve tried to summarize here the highlights of what’s been happening in the eight years I’ve been covering this topic, but it’s been a complicated process. Members of both boards have changed over the years, and so have superintendents and county managers. (In fact, none of the commissioners who served in 2017 for Dr. Smith-Woofter’s initial presentation are still on the board now.) Actually, the dream of building a new school has been on the table even longer. Long-serving BOE members such as Rhonda Taylor and Clinton Williams and Dr. Marjorie Edwards have all talked about the board’s attempts to get this same project going as far back as 2010.

It is time we move forward.

I don’t have children myself, so I can’t say I’m invested in seeing a new school built for that particular reason. But I do care a lot about my county, and I want to see all our students succeed and thrive. Education is the most important thing we can give to people. It has to be a priority.

When I was growing up, I attended school at Ridgecroft, which is outside of Ahoskie. It was a 30 minute drive there every morning, and a 30 minute drive home every afternoon. Having to account for extra travel time meant that I often chose not to participate in extracurricular clubs or sports which would have required me to stay after school. I can imagine that students from the eastern end of the county who currently attend Northampton County High School in Gaston have to struggle with the same kinds of things.

Putting a school in the middle of the county – in Jackson, right by the Wellness Center – just makes sense. And as Rhonda Taylor recently pointed out during the last meeting between both boards, this school is an investment. The school would be close enough to utilize facilities at the Wellness Center if necessary, and the public would be able to use facilities at the new school too.

I know a lot of people worry about wasteful government spending (at all levels). But, in my opinion, if my tax dollars must be spent anywhere, I would want them spent on supporting local education.

I urge the commissioners to consider the value of education as they make their decision soon.

 Holly Taylor is a Staff Writer for Roanoke-Chowan Publications. Contact her at holly.taylor@r-cnews.com or at 252-332-7206.