NEW HANOVER COUNTY — The New Hanover Community Endowment made a major announcement last week with a grant that would cover a third of the debt financing of November’s $320.5 million school bond. However, the agreement also comes with several other requirements for the school district, plus opportunities for more funding.
The Endowment announced Thursday a $116 million grant to New Hanover County contingent on the passage of the New Hanover County Schools bond. The county, since it is issuing the debt, can either pay for the projects directly or use the money as a revenue source for the debt, thus reducing the tax burden on residents to an expected 0.50 cents per $100 value rather than the previously floated 1.75 cents.
READ MORE: NHC school board schedules decision on LifeWise MOU, public hearing incoming
However, the grant agreement also includes several other provisions where the school district will share data with the county and Endowment, including on kindergarten readiness and school capacity. The memorandum of understanding also invites the district to apply for more funding.
Superintendent Chris Barnes told Port City Daily the additional components were an acknowledgment of the district’s needs and The Endowment’s goals shared in conversations between both parties over the last few years.
“This kind of trust, quite frankly, doesn’t build overnight, and it’s part of the district looking at its reputation and culture, the commissioners and the and the board and me building trust with one another and The Endowment seeing the value in the work that we’re doing,” Barnes said.
The MOU states The Endowment “invites a proposal from the district to help address current safety conditions across all schools and to recommend target investments.” The Endowment also “welcomes” a proposal for a grant up to $10 million for “demonstrable” technology improvements designed to improve academic outcomes. The MOU states neither invitation is a guarantee the proposal will be granted.
Barnes explained this component of the MOU would be in addition to the $10 million in security upgrades and $10 million in technology upgrades already included in the bond.
The MOU encourages the safety enhancement proposal to target requested investments to schools that need it most; Barnes said the upgrades will include additional security vestibules, improved cameras and better intercom systems.
Barnes told Port City Daily the tech needs, separate from the funding in the bond, are based on the district’s technology and digital learning plan. It includes goals to improve cybersecurity — NHCS was part of a statewide PowerSchool breach in February 2025 — and encourages the development of refresh cycles for the district’s technology to ensure it stays in good condition and up to date.
“In a perfect world, what we’re asking for is a complement to that grant to match it, so that we can refresh all of our systems at an earlier time,” Barnes said.
The Endowment is not walking away from the MOU empty-handed, however.
One of the components of the grant agreement is that the district must conduct kindergarten readiness assessments in accordance with the North Carolina Early Learning Inventory. The district must also distribute a parent questionnaire asking where the kindergartener received childcare the previous year, whether with a family member, or friend or at a licensed facility.
The district already conducts both; the assessment helps the district understand its incoming kindergarteners’ learning needs by measuring literacy, math cognition, cognitive approaches to learning, social emotional development and physical development. Now, the information collected will be shared with The Endowment.
“Universal and sustainable pre-K is a main mission that this community really needs,” Barnes said. “This assessment will help us sort of tailor that in a lot of different ways.”
Lastly, the MOU also solidifies Barnes’ stated goal to develop what he calls a 10-year district sustainability plan.
The school board and superintendent have been discussing reducing the district’s overhead as its student population gradually declines. Barnes suggested in March he bring a plan forward to potentially close some facilities to the school board.
The MOU holds the district to its plan to evaluate its facilities, noting the county will “expect the district to evaluate student distribution and facility utilization” and share findings with The Endowment and the county.
The bond includes several replacement schools for outdated buildings and buildings to alleviate current overcrowding; the bond projects aren’t designed to prepare for future growth. Barnes told Port City Daily Thursday that if the bond is approved, it will give the district the flexibility needed to then address where it could potentially close campuses to reduce the district’s physical footprint, and with it, budgetary needs for infrastructure and positions.
Barnes told Port City Daily Thursday that if the bond is approved, it will give the district the flexibility needed to then address where it could potentially close campuses to reduce the district’s physical footprint, and with it, budgetary needs for infrastructure and positions.
“If I can build a plan that’s 10 years long, then it allows for things like if we decide that the buildings are utilized, can we transition those kids out rather than moving them [all at one time],” Barnes said.
But, this process really can’t begin until after the bond passes, Barnes said, though when it does, public input will be a key part.
“Some of the things that impact on a superintendent’s longevity the most are closures and redistricting — so I’m not chomping at the bit,” Barnes said.
The district’s past attempts to close a school were unsuccessful due to community pushback. After the county commissioners slashed $36 million to balance its 2025-2026 budget and put six pre-K classrooms in jeopardy, NHCS identified one way to make up for the funding loss would be to close the Mary Washington Howe Pre-K Center and transfer its classrooms to the Dorothy B. Johnson Pre-K Center. Doing so would have allowed the district to sell the property.
“There’s never going to be a school that doesn’t mean something to somebody,” Barnes said. “Closure doesn’t mean selling, it just means how can I make sure that I can maximize this funding resources we have to best benefit kids.”
[Ed. Note: This article has been updated to reflect the county cut $36 million from the county manager’s recommended budget, which was based on expenses incurred over the budgeted amount for in 2024-2025.]
Reach journalist Brenna Flanagan at [email protected].
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