BY KARISSA MILLER

The Iredell-Statesville Schools Board of Education is considering a staff recommendation to close nine schools to out-of-district attendance for the 2024-2025 school year.

During the Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday, staff proposed restricting attendance to Lake Norman, Lakeshore, Shepherd, Troutman, Central and East Iredell elementary schools as well as Lakeshore Middle School and Lake Norman and South Iredell high schools. Only students who live in those schools’ districts would be allowed to attend.

Tim Ivey, I-SS Chief of Technology, Facilities and Maintenance Officer, said the staff recommendation is result of those schools being over crowded or close to their state recommended maximum class size.

Out-of-district students who by residence would attend I-SS and wishes to attend a school outside of their designated residential attendance zone, along with students who live outside of the I-SS district and wish to pay tuition to attend an I-SS school.

Students who currently attend a school site not within their attendance zone and those who live outside of I-SS district would be allowed to continue to attend during the 2024-2025 school year as long as they meet the district requirements outlined in the out-of-district approval letter as well as those noted in BOE Policy 4150 – School Assignment.

The policy also outlines exceptions, such as enabling siblings to attend the same school.

OTHER BUSINESS

In other business:

♦ Ivey presented the bids for the new Educational Support Center building, which is the result of a plan to move employees who work in the ADR building to the campus of the Career Academy and Technical School (CATS) in Troutman.

The construction project was approved in 2022 by the school board. It would create a new 11,000-square-foot, single-story administrative office building that would be added onto the Facilities and Planning Building at CATS.

It would house central office employees and other departments currently located at ADR.

Out of nine bidders, Ivey recommended that the board award a contract to T.C Strickland Construction Company Inc. for $3,374,600.

The state contract pricing for Furniture Fixtures and Equipment from Virco would cost an additional $200,939.38, Ivey said. This brings the total cost for this project to $3,575,539.38.

The funds would come from current expense funds moved to the capital budget through a resolution for $3 million, which was approved by the school and county commissioners in 2022, and the current fiscal year capital funds.

♦ The board heard an update from school board attorney Ashley Leonard on a resolution regarding Weathers Creek High School.

Leonard explained that the county is in the process of securing bonds and other financing for the construction of the new high school in Troutman.

As part of the financing package, the lender requires the county to provide collateral, specifically, the property that is being improved with the bonds and financing.

Leonard said the bank will hold a deed of trust on the property until the bond and financing debt are repaid, or refinanced and other collateral is secured.

The school board does not have the legal authority to borrow funds for this type of project; therefore, the county must borrow on the board’s behalf.

Because the county is the entity borrowing the funds, it must also be the entity that owns the property that will be used for collateral.

In a resolution that will be voted on next week, the county has asked the school board to convey the Weathers Creek parcel to the County in order for the property to be used as collateral for the financing.

The County will lease the property back to the school board. It will last the period of the debt service. The County will enter into an agency agreement allowing the school board to oversee the construction of the site.

NEXT MEETING

The board will meet on February 12 at CATS, 350 Old Murdock Road in Troutman, at 6 p.m. to vote on the resolution, out-of-district attendance proposal, approve the bid contract for the new Education Support Center building and other regular agenda items.