Whale Branch arts center could go before school board later this month

With funds now approved for a new gym at Whale Branch Early College High School, a Beaufort County schools committee took another step toward completing the campus Thursday by asking district staff to look into the impact of using the same financing option to build a performing arts center.

Depending on how the numbers come back, it could put the $12 million arts center in line to go before a vote at the full board’s next meeting in two weeks.

“I’m very adamant about moving forward on this,” said committee chair Bill Payne. “It’s been too long.”

The committee also received an update on expenses incurred to get schools up and running again after Hurricane Matthew struck the area in October. Ranging from roof repairs to tree removal to floor replacement, the total of $597,065 will continue to rise as other projects are awarded.

Reimbursement from the district’s insurers and FEMA is ongoing, but the process is slow.

“We’re adding more all the time,” said Robert Oetting, who oversees the district’s facilities. “We’re doing a lot of stump grinding and removal now. This list will only grow.”

The Whale Branch performing arts center, like the gym, was left off initial construction when the high school was built in 2010. Voters had approved a bond referendum 10 years earlier, but long delays and rising costs prompted those buildings to be set aside.

Both facilities were part of the $217 million bond referendum that voters shot down in November, prompting the board to look into other methods of financing for projects it considered top priority.

The gym finally got the green light Tuesday when the board voted 6-2, with two abstaining, to build the $4.4 million facility via a portion of the district’s “8 percent” borrowing capacity.

State law allows school boards to authorize capital improvement bonds below that threshold without having to take it to a ballot measure. The financing option commonly is used for big-ticket repairs and maintenance, though it also can be used for new projects.

Superintendent Jeff Moss told the board Tuesday he believed the arts center also could fit under that option, but had not run the numbers. He’ll make that presentation at the Feb. 21 meeting.

Whale Branch is the only school in the district without a performing arts center or a “competition” gym that meets state standards for hosting postseason games.

“We hear a lot about equity as a board,” said member Joseph Dunkle. “How do we respect taxpayer dollars and also provide what the community should have?

“As I said Tuesday night, we had a school built before with (both facilities), and we had a school built after with it. This one got left out.”

May River High, which opened last August, has both the larger gym and a performing arts center.

This story was originally published February 9, 2017 at 8:36 PM with the headline "Whale Branch arts center could go before school board later this month."