CMS Board requests more money two years after voters approve nearly $1B bond package

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Just about two years after voters said ‘yes’ to a $922 million school bond request, the reality of what the new schools and renovations will actually cost has changed.

“Please accept this letter as a formal request from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education to the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners for additional funding to cover construction-cost escalation for the projects in our development queue."

That's what part of a letter, shared with Channel 9, sent this week from CMS board leaders to Mecklenburg County leaders, saying those "construction-cost escalations" are above the amounts forecast.

"Anytime that you plan out a bond, you build in a factor to account for escalation," CMS chairperson Elyse Dashew said of their process." And so we worked with the county to determine what that would be and you know the costs have gone up higher than the county expected, higher than we expected."

Dashew says it's been a gradual process, as bids have come back.

"Our staff has been working hard on what can we cut, what savings where can we find savings."

The letter says, without more money, they'll be "forced to make significant modifications to the projects that all of us have promised the community."

"If the commitment was made then we're certainly going to do everything we can to make sure we follow through on that commitment," Board of County Commission Chairman George Dunlap told Channel 9.

Nearly $1B CMS bond package will spread to neighboring communities Nearly $1B CMS bond package will spread to neighboring communities

“One of the things I will tell you about this board is they’re going to make sure they go through the deliberative process of making sure that the funds were spent appropriately and then we’ll have to evaluate what funds we have available,” he said. “It’s ultimately our responsibility to make sure that every kid has a seat in the classroom.”

The letter also says the money budgeted for a South Charlotte relief land purchase is insufficient.

At the February 25th school board meeting, Dashew says they’ll be having a big discussion on where all the projects stand, how we got here, and what’s next.

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