BY PAUL WOOLVERTON | CityView Senior Reporter
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper has proposed sending more than $10 million to Fayetteville State University for construction and other programs, and more than $73 million to the Cumberland County Board of Education for school construction.
The Fayetteville-area spending was proposed for the 2024-25 state budget, which the legislature approved last year, but is modifying this spring and summer.
The legislature has veto-proof Republican majorities, so it’s uncertain to what degree that proposals from Cooper — a Democrat — will be considered.
Fayetteville State: More than $10 million in new spending
The governor’s budget proposal has a variety of funding that would benefit Fayetteville State University.
Here is what Cooper proposed:
- $1 million “to address critical infrastructure risks to campus operations.” More detailed information was not immediately available.
- $3.2 million to install keycard door locks on 1,220 doors in the residence halls. This is to boost campus safety. The university says 58% of those doors have traditional key locks, and 42% have obsolete keycard access technology.
- $3 million added to the budget to renovate the A.B. Rosenthal Building, which houses the Department of Performing and Fine Arts, because of rising construction costs. This brings total funding to $13 million. The renovation is to solve acoustic problems in its musical performance spaces, improve temperature and humidity control in the art gallery, make the building more accessible to disabled people, and address deferred maintenance.
- $2.8 million added to the budget to renovate the Helen T. Chick Building, bringing the total to $10.5 million. This building houses the Student Success Learning Center. The plans include making 3,500 square feet of space usable, improving access for disabled people, and addressing deferred maintenance.
- Fayetteville State would get $100 per student for a student success initiative. In the fall, the university had 6,847 students, meaning it could get about $685,000.
- A portion of $8.5 million to be shared among six UNC System universities to help students who are on track to graduate, but are in danger of dropping out because they can’t afford to stay in college. This program was previously funded at $2 million. The universities may award each struggling student up to $5,000 to stay in school. For example, Fayetteville State uses the money to offer summer classes at no charge to help students graduate in no more than four academic years.
- Fayetteville State and the University of North Carolina at Asheville would split $255,262 so each could hire an internal auditor. The state’s Council of Internal Auditing recommended that the universities hire the auditors to “improve efficiency, effectiveness, and compliance with state laws and internal policies.”.
$2.5 billion to build North Carolina schools?
The governor wants to let the voters decide in November whether to allow North Carolina to borrow $2.5 billion to pay for K-through-12 school construction through a bond referendum.
If these bonds were to be approved, Cumberland County’s share would be $73.2 million.
The county Board of Education and Board of Commissioners have been discussing construction of a new E.E. Smith high school campus, to replace the old one. The cost has been estimated at $160 million.
Cooper has called for school construction bond referenda in 2019 and 2020, but the legislature never put his bond proposals on the ballot.
Senior reporter Paul Woolverton can be reached at 910-261-4710 and pwoolverton@cityviewnc.com.
This story was made possible by contributions to CityView News Fund, a 501c3 charitable organization committed to an informed democracy.
