These Wake schools ‘need attention.’ They’re in $530 million school bond on ballot.

Brentwood Elementary is beloved by its students and staff, but the Raleigh school is showing its age after more than 50 years of use.

Concerns about leaking ceilings, slick floors and brown sludge on pipes and walls are just some of the challenges that Brentwood faces.

But the Wake County school system says the public can help Brentwood and several other older schools by passing a $530.7 million school construction bond referendum on the Nov. 8 ballot.

“I want it to be a space where our staff don’t have to worry about am I going to have a leak?” Emily Hardee, assistant principal of Brentwood, said in an interview. “Is my light going to turn on?

“Is the toilet going to be operational? Or do I have to change my daily schedule to now take my kindergarten class out ... taking away from their learning because the bathrooms have been shut down or are not operational in their room.”

The school bond is one of two countywide bond measures on the Election Day ballot. Wake County voters will also be asked to decide on a $353.2 million bond to pay for upgrades at Wake Technical Community College.

Voters in Raleigh will also decide on a $275 million bond referendum to plan, build and fix parks across the city.

‘Five cups of coffee’

The school bond would help fund seven major school renovations:

▪ Athens Drive High in Raleigh

▪ Ligon Middle in Raleigh

▪ Brentwood Elementary in Raleigh

▪ Washington Elementary in Raleigh

▪ North Garner Middle

▪ Briarcliff Elementary in Cary

▪ Lockhart Elementary in Knightdale.

The bond would also help fund construction of five new schools, security upgrades and replacement of aging equipment at existing schools.

The bond referendum would provide most of the $664.6 million needed to pay for projects during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 fiscal years.

Passage of the school bond referendum would bring a property tax increase of $21 a year for a Wake County home at the median assessed value of $337,000.

That $21 is equivalent to about “four of five cups of coffee” a year from Starbucks, according to Tom Oxholm, co-chairman of the Friends of Wake County, the business-backed group formed to promote passage of the school bond referendum.

“Our students and teachers are worth $21,” said Oxholm, a former school board member.

The Wake Tech bond would cost the average Wake County homeowner another $14 a year in property taxes. The Raleigh parks bond would add $103 a year to the tax bill to a home assessed at $256,000.

Bond advocates and school officials say Wake County’s AAA bond rating will provide low borrowing rates that make it the cheapest way to pay for the construction needs.

“At the end of the day, Brentwood will be renovated,” said Douglas Congdon, the school district’s program executive for facilities design and construction. “But we want to stress what is going to be on the ballot is the most financially cost effective method.”

Focus on renovations

The bond referendum comes at a time when growth has slowed. Enrollment in North Carolina’s largest school district is lower than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic.

School officials say this slowdown has allowed them to put more focus on renovating older schools.

“We’re not stopping new construction because there are areas where population dictates that,” Congdon said. “But we’re putting more emphasis on the major renovations because there are schools like Brentwood that need attention.”

Brentwood could get more than $50 million to rebuild the campus located on Ingram Drive near New Hope Church in Raleigh. The main building dates back to 1968, with newer additions in 1991 and 1998.

“Humidity is a big factor,” said Hardee, the assistant principal. “Coming into the beginning of that school year, controlling that humidity and maintaining floors that are dry and non-slippery for children is a major concern of ours that is an ongoing daily battle.”

Hardee said they almost had to send students home in August because problems with the HVAC system led to condensation that made the floors a dangerous slipping hazard.

Students have to put on coats in the winter to leave the main building to use the restroom building. Due to a lack of heating and air conditioning, the restroom building can also become a slipping hazard.

Impact on student learning

Brentwood’s 54-year-old main building also has issues in the ceilings and piping that lead to leaks and drips. Hardee said some students are working around buckets or trash cans that are catching leaks in their classrooms.

“It impacts students because the focus turns to a leak or making sure a child is not tripping or falling instead of focusing on the education,” Hardee said.

Residue is growing on the pipes and the tiles have become discolored in one classroom. Hardee said the teacher, who began to suffer from migraines, was relocated to a different classroom.

The 1991 building that contains the gym and library also has a variety of issues. The arching roof results in loud noises during storms. The stink from dead animals who’ve gotten in through a hole in the roof is a recurring issue.

“We are resilient,” Hardee said. “We fall back on our engineering motto of we’re here for the kids and we’re going to problem solve. We have to keep on keeping on and teaching those students.”

Wake has a rolling, seven-year, $2 billion capital improvement program. But with more than 200 buildings to maintain, Congdon said the needs still outpace the dollars in the district.

No organized opposition

In past years, such as the 2018 bond campaign, there have been groups who’ve actively opposed the school bond referendum. That’s not the case this year.

The John Locke Foundation has been among the groups who in the past have opposed Wake school bonds when they would lead to a property tax hike. But Terry Stoops, who until Friday was director of the Locke Foundation’s Center for Effective Education, said the school bond has gone under the radar this year.

“I don’t think that any organized opposition would be able to score a victory for people opposed to borrowing,” said Stoops, who left the conservative think tank to become an advisor to State Superintendent Catherine Truitt.

Stoops said bond opponents would be hard-pressed to outspend the bond supporters. Early campaign reports show the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce has already donated $23,799 to help promote the school bond.

Wake County voters haven’t rejected a school bond referendum since 1999. Since then, voters have approved borrowing more than $3.2 billion for Wake school construction projects, including a $548 million bond referendum in 2018.

Oxholm of Friends of Wake says inflation will only make it more expensive to delay construction projects. In addition, Oxholm said passing the bond referendum would send a positive message that schools are valued.

“It’s a bad economic decision to delay and would be a bad psychological message to send to schools,” Oxholm said. “There are really no good reasons to delay.”