Most of the Guilford County commissioners have been working hard to convince county voters to approve a $1.7 billion school bond referendum in the May 17, 2022 primary election.
In addition they want voters to approve a quarter-cent sales tax increase to help pay for it and this week the county announced that the commissioners will hold another event along those lines.
On Wednesday, March 9, at 4:30 p.m., a group of commissioners will take a tour of Grimsley High School and take note of the problems with the school’s buildings.
The school visits – which were started by Chairman of the Board of Commissioners Skip Alston – always draw a lot of media attention. That’s exactly what the commissioners want because having more people in the county aware of school shortcomings no doubt helps the cause of those backing the giant school bond referendum.
In the past, the tours of various schools in need have had less than five commissioners attend. Anything over five means that the commissioners have a quorum – that is, enough commissioners present to legally take a vote. In that case, the county must follow certain state laws, such as providing 48 hours’ notice of the “meeting.”
The county’s announcement calls the event a “Social Gathering” and states that of that the tour “will be attended by the Guilford County Board of Commissioners. While the Board has not called a formal meeting and no business is scheduled to be conducted, there is a likelihood that a quorum of Board members may be in attendance to participate in the tour.”
Though the board will be reviewing facilities at Grimsley together, and will potentially take what they learn as information for later board decisions, the announcement states, “Please note that no official actions are scheduled to be conducted during this tour.”
What was the school board/ county commissioner response to petitioning tearing down the baseball/ softball fields at Grimsley to build a new Kiser Middle School? Is that project going on as scheduled?