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School board moves forward with A.T. Allen Elementary site
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Published: March 27, 2009
MIDLAND — The Cabarrus County Board of Education decided Thursday to move forward and proceed with building the A.T. Allen Elementary replacement school at the Abilene Road and Miami Church Road site.
County commissioners recently asked the board to reconsider placing the school at the Buffalo Ranch property north of N.C. 49 instead.
Associate Superintendent Jim Amendum said doing so would mean forfeiting all the money paid for the current site and delaying the opening of the school by at least a year.
"That delay would mean we'd have to redistrict students," Amendum told the board. "That's a huge effect on families."
Amendum also reminded the board of the history of the site's selection. He said the Miami Church location is mentioned in the district's 15-year plan as the site. During the property's closing, a fiber-optic cable was discovered, which stalled the purchase.
The school system looked at other sites, but could not find an alternative. The Buffalo Ranch property was one of those the board decided not to select.
"Two years ago, we made a decision that Buffalo Ranch was not suitable, and it's still not a good site for the school," said Wayne Williams, vice chair for the board of education. "It's 90 acres, which we certainly don't need."
Williams also said the school system has invested just over $1 million in the current site and the board members would be poor stewards of tax money if they selected a new site.
During the discussion, board members Carolyn Carpenter and Andrea Palo said they did not feel that all the facts were presented before their original vote for the Miami Church site. At the time, the board voted unanimously for it.
While the board discussed the decision, board chair Holly Blackwelder asked the A. T. Allen principal, Hilda Batts, for her thoughts.
"As far as we are concerned, the Miami Church site looks good to us," Batts said. "We are hoping we can move forward."
The board decided to do just that. Members voted unanimously to send a letter to the county commissioners saying they will proceed at the Miami Church site.
Also during the work session, the board discussed the possibility of reducing personnel to address potential state budget cuts of 3, 5 or 7 percent.
"I want to make sure it doesn't make the worrying worse," Blackwelder said prior to the meeting. "I want to put people at ease that we are being diligent, and we want to make sure our decisions have the least amount of impact on the students."
Kathy Auger, human resources director for the school system, said that it is the district's intent to keep as many jobs possible, but a reduction in staffing is possible.
Blackwelder said the board does not know when the state will let the county know about potential budget cuts.
If Superintendent Barry Shepherd thinks that job cuts are necessary, the policy is he must present a plan to the school board.
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