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Guilford County Orders Study On School Facilities, Technology

Guilford County School officials are partnering with county leaders to find out more about the district's infrastructure needs and classroom sizes. KERI BROWN/WFDD

Guilford County wants to find out more about the state of its school facilities. A new study will also include a look at how school boundary lines are drawn.

It will survey demographics and growth trends across the district. Guilford County School officials say some classrooms are too crowded, while others have a few empty seats. Consultants will also collect information about the number of classrooms and where they are located.

Scott McCully, the chief operations officer for GCS, says a bulk of the study will focus on facility improvements and technology needs.

“Our buildings are getting older. The average age is just over 50 years and I think this last cold snap really illustrated the need for us to have high functioning facilities, but also determining at what point should we start replacing those,” says McCully.

A Florida-based firm known as MGT Consulting Group will conduct the study at a cost of nearly $900,000.

The Guilford County Board of Commissioners will discuss providing half of that money during Monday evening's meeting.

McCully says the study will take six months to complete. Based on the findings, a long-range master plan will be created. He says the district will work with the county to find the best way to pay for the improvements.

“It's too early to tell if a bond issue would be an appropriate funding mechanism,” he says. “But based off of what we anticipate the need to be in our schools certainly with safety, security and technology as well as the facility, I think it's likely there will be a future bond referendum. But we are a ways from determining exactly what that might look like as well as the amount.”

*Follow WFDD's Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news

 

Keri Brown is a multi-award winning reporter and host at 88.5 WFDD. She has been honored with two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her stories about coal ash, and was named the 2015 radio reporter of the year by the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas (RTDNAC).Although she covers a variety of topics, her beats are environmental and education reporting.Keri comes to the Triad from West Virginia Public Broadcasting, where she served as the Chief Bureau Reporter for the Northern Panhandle. She produced stories for the state's Public Television and Radio programs and was honored by the West Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Association for her feature and enterprise reporting.She also served as an adjunct instructor at Wheeling Jesuit University and Bethany College in West Virginia. She worked with the Center for Educational Technologies in Wheeling, WV, and other NASA centers across the country to develop several stories about the use of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts in the classroom.Keri's journalism career began at WTRF-TV 7 in Wheeling. She worked in several roles at the station, including the head assignment editor. She also was a field producer and assignment manager at WPGH-TV Fox 53 in Pittsburgh.Keri is a graduate of Ohio University. When she's not in the studio or working on a story, she enjoys watching college football with her family, cooking, and traveling.Keri is always looking for another great story idea, so please share them with her. You can follow her on Twitter @kerib_news.

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