Want to see which projects are finished, which are still in the works and which fell victim to changed plans? Check out this interactive map of the projects Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools leaders promised when voters approved $516 million in bonds in 2007.
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| Screen shot -- click link in copy for interactive map |
More coverage is coming this weekend on the 2007 bonds and the $290 million plan on the Nov. 5 ballot. But I thought I'd go ahead and share the maps (here's another one plotting the proposed 2013 projects). My colleague April Bethea has created a voter guide page to serve as a one-stop source for information about the bonds, school board election and municipal elections this year.
Remember that Friday is the deadline for registering to vote in the Nov. 5 election, and early voting starts Oct. 17.
Some notes for anyone who's taking a close look at the 2007 map: I got CMS to provide initial budget and final/current costs for this list on their bond page. In some cases, the final numbers are different from what you'll find on the CMS construction page (check elementary, middle and high school updates). Construction planner Dennis LaCaria says that's because the bond numbers that I used for the map reflect only the part of the project done under the 2007 bonds. In some cases, design and site work and other preliminaries had already been done with other funding sources.
You'll also find West Charlotte High on the CMS list but not on the map. That's a decision, not an oversight. When I wrote about the CMS "Promises Made, Promises Kept" report several weeks ago, a West Charlotte booster called outraged that I has listed that school as getting renovations under the 2007 bonds. She insisted that school had no recent work and is long overdue. On closer look, I decided she was right. While all the other projects are in the millions, West Charlotte is listed because it got less than $200,000 in electrical work. Normally that would fall under the miscellaneous "bundled" work, such as roofing, paving and fire alarm improvements that are spread among several schools. It doesn't make sense to me to describe that as a significant school renovation.
A note about my responsiveness (or lack thereof) this week. I'm sort of time-traveling here. I wrote a slew of school board and bond stories (including this post) last week and now they're running while I'm taking a week off. That means I'll be filtering comments and posting them as I get a chance, but it won't be as quick as usual. Likewise, I won't be answering calls and emails, but it's not for lack of interest.
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5 comments:
$31.4 MILLION to build a K-8 in southern Mecklenburg County in 2020?
More new schools over $30 MILLION proposed in other parts of the county in 2017?
With the proliferation of charters and now private school subsidies added to the mix, CMS has as much of a clue as to what the student population will be 4 to 7 years from now as they did when the 2007 bonds passed.
VOTE NO ON BONDS!!
Union County builds elementary schools for $7+ million. Lots o greasy palms in Mecklenburg.
The new elementary school in Indian Land just behind Bridgehampton and right over the border will cost $18.2 million.
http://www.fortmilltimes.com/2013/05/22/2703525/new-indian-land-school-to-open.html
The 96,000-square-foot school will hold 1,000 students.
The total “turnkey” cost for opening the new school, including construction, furnishings, technology, will be $18.2 million, including $1.1 million for the property, bought in February 2012...
Anon 5:40, many of us have asked these questions over the years and been shunned by the CMS ivory. It got especially bad during the run to build all new urban schools under that school board during the lawsuit. CMS BOE was all into punishing the suburbanites. The inner city schools were fine when white kids went there but all of a sudden were insufficient for the urban kids.
CMS and CO, you. Will get little support from the tax paying public. The number one resource for CMS is it's staff in the schools. Your bonds will not pass until you take care of your staff. If you have to eliminate jobs downtown to do that then start cutting. When you show that you care and have a clue then maybe bonds can pass , but not now. The chambers 300k budget for the PR campaign would have been spent better someplace else. The potential influence for contracts is alarming. VOTE NO BONDS!!!! Keith W. Hurley
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