The High Point Branch of the NAACP announces its position on the Guilford County School Bond and Tax Initiative. School Buildings in Guilford County is long overdue for an overhaul and in some cases demolition altogether. The physical environment complements the academic and learning environment needed to facilitate achievement and success for students. Guilford County Schools for far too long have been deprived.
We stand firm with those who want to create world-class learning in Guilford County, and we start by classrooms and facilities conducive to exploring the greatness of each student.
The currently seated Guilford County School Board members (who possess the knowledge and history of the struggle) should be retained to ensure the work started is completed.
DO NOT BE MISGUIDED ~ Integrity in fiscal management is not at issue, as opponents would have us believe, it is in long term neglect and lack of funding that precipitates the place where we find ourselves.
In addition to new construction, renovations and repairs, the bond will be used to:
- Make schools safer with digital locks, cameras, and other security measures, as well as modernizing classrooms and upgrading technology.
- Expand in-demand programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, the visual and performing arts, advanced manufacturing, robotics, computer sciences and other Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs.
- Design new schools to serve multipurpose needs such as community meeting spaces, job training centers and healthcare services.
To help pay for the school bond, Guilford County voters will have the opportunity to approve a fraction of a penny sales tax (excluding certain items such as groceries, prescriptions, and gas) that spreads the cost of repaying the bond beyond property owners with the intention to keep property tax rates neutral. County officials estimate that the sales tax impact would equate to five pennies for every $20 that is spent on most goods and services in Guilford County.
Time out for political grandstanding and pointing fingers “Now is the Time” as Dr. Martin Luther King says, “it is always the time to do the right thing.”
