County High School Officials Seek Repair Funds

The Orange County Board of Education approved the district's new Capital Improvement Plan on Monday, which requests that $950,000 in high school renovation funds be available by July 2004.

But safety concerns with existing conditions in Orange High School have prompted school officials to seek a quicker way to fund the renovations.

The board plans to ask the Orange County Board of Commissioners to consider providing the funds.

Orange County school board Chairwoman Delores Simpson said funds are needed before 2004. "The thinking is safety," Simpson said. "We've been talking about not only having our schools academically superior, but safe."

Renovations planned for Orange High include new intercom and fire alarm systems, media center upgrades and aesthetic repairs on interior walls and exterior doors.

Orange High Principal Richard Freeman said deficiencies in the existing intercom and fire alarm systems present the biggest dangers to students.

"We cannot receive all announcements (from the intercom) in all areas of school in case of an emergency," Freeman said. "(There are) some classrooms that do not hear the fire alarm."

Administrators are also concerned the public will perceive Orange High as inferior to the new facilities at Cedar Ridge High School, which is scheduled to open this August.

"(Cedar Ridge is) pretty as a penny," Freeman said. "We want our high school to be attractive (too)."

Officials did not allocate money from the 2001 $47 million school bond package for Orange High renovations. But $900,000 of bond funds were approved for repairs in Hillsborough Elementary School.

The repairs and construction associated with Hillsborough Elementary School have pushed the Orange High renovations back to 2004.

"We just approved the Capital Improvement Plan with the stipulation covering (Orange High renovations)," said Superintendent Randy Bridges.

Repairs to the elementary school also will require relocating district employees who currently work in a wing adjacent to the existing structure. This would require constructing an addition to the district central offices.

Bridges said he would like the Orange High renovations to begin at least a year earlier. "We're not putting any projects against each other," he said. "(We're) just looking for an opportunity to move up the renovations to Orange."

School board members said they plan to seek alternative methods of funding like a bond sale to finance the renovations. "We are in the process of dealing with the budget right now," Simpson said. "(But) there's a need for both renovations (at Hillsborough Elementary and Orange High)."

Freeman said he hopes safety concerns about existing conditions will prompt quicker action to fund the improvements. "The school board is very supportive of us. (But) I would like the county commissioners to make this funding available as soon as possible."

The City Editor can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu.