Bond listed as choice for financing school

The Alleghany County Board of Commissioners again indicated that they prefer a bond option to finance any major school facilities plan. However, the school board appeared to prefer to have the project financed without sending it to the voters.

The school board and commission will meet jointly again on May 8 at 5 p.m. to again discuss the school issue.

The last school bond in the county, which was slated to finance the new Sparta School building, was defeated by voters. However, the county subsequently paid for the construction through a lease-purchase option, similar to a regular installment loan.

The school board will take up the issue at its next meeting, slated for May 3 at 4 p.m. at Alleghany Schools’ Central Office on Peachtree Street in Sparta. The school board will then again meet on May 9 at 5 p.m. for its regular monthly meeting.

The commission’s next regularly scheduled meeting is set for May 17 at 10 a.m.

The county asked the school system to get more firm totals on a bond project and any other necessary projects to get the school system through the next 15 years or so. In addition, the commission asked for a second plan, which would show the cost of renovating all three county primary schools and carrying out a middle school plan at all the schools.

School Board Chair Charles Joines said the proposal to fund a middle school through a bond referendum is a ‘major concern.’

However, Commissioner Ken Richardson noted that it is less expensive to fund a large project through a bond and expressed confidence that a bond could pass in the county.

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