Davie County commissioners had lots of questions about a proposal for a $31.3 million high school that school officials presented to them last night.
But no one had an answer to the biggest question of all, which is how to pay for it.
"We hadn't taken the big step yet," said Chris Anderson, the chairman of the Davie County Board of Commissioners. He said it would be September or October at the earliest before commissioners would be able to make a decision.
Commissioners have several options.
They could go for another bond referendum, take money out of the general fund, or use certificates of participation, a type of bond that doesn't require voter approval.
The Davie County Board of Education voted 4-2 last Tuesday to recommend building a new high school that would hold 1,700 students but didn't specify where it would be. The school system would use the current Davie High School as an auxiliary campus.
The plan would also include the construction of a 12,000-square-foot building for the Early College program at the Davie campus of Davidson County Community College.
The school board had considered putting the Early College at the auxiliary campus but ultimately decided against that idea.
Officials at the Davidson County Community College would have to determine how much a building for the Early College would cost and then ask commissioners to pay for it.
Barbara Owens, the vice chairwoman of the school board, and school-board member Carl Lambert both voted against the proposal. Owens said they voted against the plan because they wanted the Early College plan to be considered separately from the new high school.
In the past, school officials have sought to build a second high school in the eastern part of the county, but in 2003 and 2007, voters defeated bonds that would have paid for construction. In both of those cases, opponents argued that a second high school would benefit the children of wealthy parents who live in eastern Davie County, while leaving the current high school neglected.
School officials have left the decision on where the new high school would be built to the county board. They did say, however, that the school would have to be "centrally located." And the $31.3 million doesn't include land-acquisition costs.
Terry Renegar, the chairman of the school board, said he defines "centrally located" as being no farther east than the property along U.S. 158 near Rainbow Road that the county already owns and no farther west than the Farmington Road exit off Interstate 40.
The county bought the property on U.S. 158 as a potential site for a second high school.
Under the proposal, the new high school would be 207,132 square feet and include a 750-seat theater and auditorium. The theater and auditorium would be bid separately from the high school, school officials said.
The current high school is about 193,000 square feet and has a capacity of 1,500 to 1,600 students.
At the beginning of the year, the school had more than 1,800 students. It had fallen to a little more than 1,660 students because of dropouts, transfers and students who went to the alternative school, officials have said.
The goal, school officials have said, is to have the new high school open by the fall of 2011.
Steven Ridenhour, who opposed the school bonds in 2003 and 2007, said he wants to study the plan some more before he decides whether he supports it.
"It sounds like they put a lot of work into it, and it has a lot of potential," he said.
■ Michael Hewlett can be reached at 727-7326 or at mhewlett@wsjournal.com.
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