Construction of county’s $67M school is underway with funding from the state

Dan Parsons is a new contributor to Down in the County.

Nearly a decade ago, John Prescott woke up from a deep sleep, he said, with his head filled with a dream that his future granddaughter was playing and being educated at a new school complex.

That dream became fully formed in the Pamlico County School Board chairman’s mind and he spent the ensuing years working to bring it to reality.

There would be a new high school to replace the 1950s-era hulk that looms over Highway 55 in Bayboro. A new middle school would be connected to it. An elementary school housing all the county’s primary school students in one building would stand nearby but at a healthy remove from the older students.

The campus would feature a new baseball field, a new football field and be walkable by all students. There would be ample parking. If done in phases, Prescott figured the whole thing might be built on land the county already owned, avoiding any costly and potentially time consuming real estate deals.

Prescott and his fellow school board members, along with a number of former and current county commissioners then spent the next decade breathing life into that vision by working together and with the state to figure out how to bring it into the real world.

Construction on this dream school began Nov. 7, about a month later than the initial project timeline posted to the school system’s website. Though it is still early days, Pamlico County Schools Supt. Jeremy Johnson told the county Board of Commissioners recently that the $67 million project is on schedule, despite a day lost to the several inches of snow that fell on eastern North Carolina in late January.

The project is a heavy lift for a county whose operating budget for the 2024-2025 fiscal year is just over $25 million, less than half what it will cost to build the new school.

But Prescott, his fellow school board members and the County Commissioners said they are intent on improving and enlivening the school system in which they were educated. Prescott and Board of Commissioners Chair Ed Riggs graduated together in 1988 from Pamlico County High School.

“I want every kid that lives in this county to have the same opportunity I had, same opportunity my daughter had who graduated,” Prescott told Down in the County.

“So we're building a new school that is going to be more energy efficient. It's going to be new, with newer technologies. In some ways, these older schools have become money pits because all you're doing is fixing, fixing, fixing,” Prescott said. “You're not fixing the problem. You're just putting on band aids.”

Now the first wisps of Prescott’s dream are rising into reality from the ground in the form of a new $67 million high school that eventually will house both high school and middle school students.

Two or three commissioners, two or three school board members, both staffs, the engineer, the architect, the construction company and the project manager meet regularly to get updates on the school, Riggs said.

A construction trailer has been delivered to serve as the project’s nerve center until completion. The county will retain ownership of the trailer for whatever use it sees fit once the school is completed.

The construction actually started with destruction. The old baseball field, its stands, dugouts, press box and other structures have been demolished. Development of the site has continued apace, with ground preparation underway for a massive concrete slab — 4 feet above ground level — that will serve as the building’s foundation.

Massive amounts of fill dirt and stone enough to cover six inches across the building footprint have been trucked in to solidify the ground in preparation for pouring the slab, which was scheduled to begin Feb. 15, Johnson said. A third-party firm was brought in to conduct density tests on the site after the aggregate was compacted.

Over the past month or so, a series of 500 piers have been installed 35 feet deep to shore up the concrete slab and ensure the foundation does not settle once built. Half were dug and installed on Jan. 22, Johnson said. All of them must be installed before concrete can be poured.

“They did lose one day with the snow, but they're moving so fast, they're actually ahead of where they had anticipated being on the calendar,” he said. “So they've been very efficient doing the job.”

Next comes installation of geothermal wells that will use the earth’s below-ground heat to control the temperature inside the building. Permitting is complete on the 250 wells that must be dug, and plumbing will be installed before the slab is poured.

Meanwhile, a new baseball field for the school is being built behind Fred Anderson Elementary, he said. A new well was dug to provide irrigation for the field. Local celebrity Hiron Lupton volunteered to survey the field and set the bases and pitching mound. Those elements are being installed by Carolina Greens.

“We hope to be able to play on it sometime mid-March,” Johnson said.

Funding for the school has been a concern for some who see the project as a huge expense in a relatively cash-strapped corner of eastern North Carolina. But Riggs said he views the funding structure as a deal for a Tier 1 county, which is one with the lowest tax base.

“If you're a citizen of Pamlico County, we are your school district, and we want to be a district that you're proud of, and we want to be doing the things … that we should be providing to our students,” Johnson said.

Of the total $67 million budget, $50 million is from a Needs Based Public School Capital Fund Grant, which is funded with revenue from the N.C. Education Lottery. Because it is a grant, Pamlico County will not have to repay that money.

Linked to that grant is another $12 million in state inflation allowance meant to cover rising construction expenses as the project progresses. The county can apply for a sales tax rebate on another $1.3 million for supplies, construction and other needs related to school operation.

Pamlico County is on the hook for just over $3.7 million of the construction cost, or just over 5 percent of the total price tag. The Board of Commissioners took out a loan to cover that amount.

Tier 1 counties like Pamlico are required by the state to pay a lower percentage match against the grant funding they receive through the lottery. A Tier 2 county like neighboring Craven would be required to match about 15% while Tier 3 counties like Carteret or Wake would have to shell out 25% or more for similar capital projects.

Discussions about how to obtain the grant began in March 2020, Prescott said. The school board and commissioners are already considering pursuing another grant to consolidate Fred Anderson Elementary School with Pamlico County Primary School, which would bring the county school system from four campuses to two.

A first attempt at approval to seek a grant for that purpose was voted down by the board of commissioners last year, said Riggs a Republican. He said he voted in favor lest the funding evaporate before the county was again ready to apply. Another opportunity for what is called Phase 2 will come around in the fall, he said.

The grant funding is likely the only way Pamlico County will be able to undertake another major school construction project, Prescott said.

“Everybody that has bought a lottery ticket is helping fund new school construction in rural eastern North Carolina,” Prescott said. “And in the Triangle, they can't build schools fast enough. The population is growing fast enough that they can afford it. Our tax base cannot.”

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