NEW HANOVER COUNTY — The New Hanover Community Endowment announced Thursday it will cover more than a third of a $320.5-million school bond referendum over the next 10 years for New Hanover County Schools needs. But the money is contingent on whether the bond passes by voters this November.
“When we invest in schools, we are investing in education, but we are also investing in public health, in community safety, in neighborhood vitality, in economic resilience, and in the long-term well-being of our county,” The Endowment’s CEO Sophie Dagenais said at a press conference Thursday. “That’s why we’re here today, and the physical aspect of a school sends a powerful message to our children about our communities and our belief in them.”
The bond includes replacements of two schools, a new elementary school and phase one of the proposed New Hanover High School master plan, among other projects.
Dagenais announced the $116-million grant promise with New Hanover County Board of Commissioners Chair LeAnn Pierce, County Manager Chris Coudriet, NHCS Superintendent Chris Barnes and The Endowment’s chair Shannon Winslow. According to the memorandum of understanding, the first payment will be made in February 2028 and the last will be made in 2037.
“The buildings that are renovated and constructed will outlast all of us in this room, and that is exactly the point,” Winslow said. “These are generational investments that are meant to shape opportunity for children that we will never meet, but who will benefit from decisions that we are making with care and intention this year.”
Coudriet told Port City Daily the deal with The Endowment has been in discussion over the last several months, though county and Endowment officials talk regularly about strategies and priorities. Superintendent Barnes said he was informed of the incoming grant last week.
“I believe that the relationship we’ve been forging between the county commissioners, the endowment in the community has helped bolster this ability for this to happen,” Barnes said.
Because The Endowment is providing the money after the bond passage, the county will continue with the bond and debt issuance as planned, $320.5 million over the course of six or seven years.
“So we will use the annual grant payment from The Endowment to serve as a revenue source to help pay on debt service for 10 years,” Coudriet told Port City Daily.
As the amount will decrease debt, The Endowment’s payments could reduce the impact on the property tax rate. Prior to Thursday’s announcement, the county was estimating a 1.75-cent increase to the property tax rate to support debt payments; according to the MOU, that estimate is now 0.5 cents.
However, because The Endowment’s money would be paid after the fact and not to offset the total amount, the bond’s impact on the county’s debt capacity will remain the same. With the $320.5 million factored in and a multi-million dollar jail expansion expected in the next decade, the county doesn’t have a lot of room for other large debt issuances due to debt capacity restraints.
Winslow iterated Thursday The Endowment’s founding documents don’t let the organization supplant county funding needs, thus why it’s funding is contingent on the bond’s passage.
“What we are doing is we are supplementing what the county is doing and we are coming alongside them,” Winslow explained.
The comment was made in response to a WHQR question asking why The Endowment representatives told a listening session audience member it couldn’t help bring down the bond amount due to its founding documents. However, Winslow stood by the semantics of how the question was phrased at the time, noting it centered on whether The Endowment could cover the bond’s entirety, which would be supplanting government funding, she said; however, paying a portion sticks within The Endowment’s guidelines and rules.
New Hanover County’s board of commissioners and the board of education agreed on the $320.5-million bond last year, inclusive of contingency funds, for the following projects:
- Riverlights new elementary school ($53,855,851)
- Phase 1 of the proposed New Hanover High School master plan ($59,786,276)
- Replacing Pine Valley Elementary School ($56,332,402)
- Replacing Trask Middle School ($94,751,362)
- An addition to Porters Neck Elementary ($7,625,000)
- Districtwide system upgrades ($19,828,800)
- Districtwide technology upgrades ($10,000,000)
- Districtwide security upgrades ($10,000,000)
District staff broke down the upgrades in previous Port City Daily reporting, with the most costly being an HVAC project at Laney High School to replace its cooling tower and all water source heat pumps at $2.06 million. $1.3 million will go to both Holly Shelter Middle and Wrightsville Elementary, though ultimately 27 schools will be affected by the upgrades.
The security updates will envelop building security vestibules, or a controlled entrance for school visitors. The project has been sidelined in past budget cycles as funding for the effort remained thin.
The sequencing of the installations, each $1 million, are as follows:
- Roland Grise/Laney: 2027
- Ashley/Hoggard: 2028
- Alderman/Mosely: 2029
- Forest Hills/Murray: 2030
- Bradley Creek/Sunset Park: 2031
- Bellamy/Codington: 2032
- Noble/Wrightsboro: 2033
- Ogden/Myrtle Grove: 2034
- CRECC/Holly Tree: 2035
- Holley Shelter/Eaton: 2036
The county’s application for the bond was due to the Local Government Commission on May 4; should it pass, a hearing is scheduled for June 1.
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