STEELE CREEK NEWS
Vote Yes for School
Bonds! Vote Yes for Steele Creek Children!
(October
15, 2017) Mecklenburg County voters will have an opportunity
to approve $922 million in School Bonds in the November 7 Election.
See Vote
Yes for School Bonds! The bonds include three projects in Steele Creek:
Southwest high school: A 125-classroom school to relieve Olympic
High would be built on CMS property next to Palisades Park
Elementary School on York Road. Opening is scheduled
for 2022. Cost is $110 million. - Charlotte Observer,
October 3, 2017.
In the
Capacity Utilization Chart for the 2016-2017 School Year,
Olympic was listed with 147 classroom teachers in 102 building
classrooms, which results in a Building Utilization of 144%, the
second highest (behind South Mecklenburg) among CMS high schools.
For the 2016-2017 school year, it had 34 mobile classrooms in
service, first among CMS high schools.
Southwest elementary school: A 45-classroom school would be built on
land CMS recently agreed to buy off Sandy Porter Road. It will
relieve Nations Ford, Sterling, and Steele Creek. Opening is
scheduled for 2021. Cost is $30 million. - Charlotte Observer,
October 3, 2017.
The Board of
Education approved the purchase of approximately 19.75 acres for
this school on Sandy Porter Road at its September 12 meeting.
The
Capacity Utilization Chart for the 2016-2017 School Year lists Steele Creek Elementary School with 45 classroom teachers in
33 building
classrooms, which results in a Building Utilization of 136%. It had
11 mobile classrooms in service.
Olympic, Harding, Garinger and South Mecklenburg high schools:
Buildings would be upgraded to create new career-tech classes, with
the programs yet to be selected. Completion is scheduled for January
2023. Cost for all four is $10 million. - Charlotte Observer,
October 3, 2017.
Olympic High School opened in 1966 and has one of the oldest
buildings among CMS high schools. Olympic received funds from the
2007 (track, stadium, and roofing) and 2013 (classroom addition)
School Bonds, but CMS needs to give continued attention to its aging
facilities.
Southwest and Kennedy Middle Schools also are over capacity. CMS
owns land for a relief middle school on Steele Creek Road south of
Hamilton Road, but that school will have to wait for another bond
issue.
According to Arthur Griffin, former chair of the
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education and co-chair of the Vote
Yes for Education Bonds Campaign, Mecklenburg County maintains its
top bond rating because the community takes care of its citizens by
regularly passing bonds to keep up with the needs of the community.
CMS has identified $2.1 billion worth of capital needs, but is only
including $922 million of those needs in the 2017 bond. Mecklenburg
County is only willing to accept that much debt for this bond cycle. It includes
29 total projects, 17 new schools and 12 major renovations. "CMS is
what it is because of forward thinking leaders," Griffin said.
Some
Mecklenburg County voters, especially in the northern part of
the county, oppose the bonds because they believe they're not
getting enough in this bond. They overlook the fact that the
northern part of the county has received $375 worth of bond money
from previous bonds. If they can't get what they want, they don't
want any other areas to get anything, and overcrowding would continue
in Steele Creek schools
unabated.
For more information, see
Vote Yes for School Bonds! or
the
CMS Bond Information Homepage.
The General Election is November 7.
Early Voting starts at the Steele Creek Library on Saturday, October
28. For more information, see
Mecklenburg County Board of Elections
or
City, School Board Offices and School Bonds are on November Ballot.
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story, please visit the
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Steele Creek Residents Association Facebook Page.
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