Planning for Growth

Planning for Growth

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The population of New Hanover County is continuing to increase exponentially. Just since 2010, the population of the county has grown 15.6%. This is far higher than the national average (7.7%) and the North Carolina state average (11.7%) during the same time period. You only need to take a casual look at our county to see our remaining green spaces and golf course being replaced constantly with new housing developments. Current estimates by real estate professionals forecast at least an annual population growth of 2 percent for the foreseeable future. This growth is bound to affect the New Hanover County school district and we must plan now for its impact.

These are the topics I would like to cover in more detail:


The Likelihood of Increases to the Student Population

It is true that the student population in our school district has remained pretty consistent since 2010, at about 25,000 students served. Even if you add in the increased student population at local charter schools, this still only amounts to less than a 1% increase in the overall student population since 2010.

We have actually seen a notable decrease in the number of young children residing in New Hanover County, and most of the aforementioned population growth is attributable to new residents of retirement age or higher. So, you might be thinking why I am even talking about planning for school growth?

I believe the decrease in the number of young children residing in the county was a temporary phenomenon. There was simply not enough available housing in New Hanover County to handle the overall demand, and the prices of homes within the county rose dramatically. Young families were still coming to the area but could find substantially lower priced housing in places like Leland and Hampstead. However, these places are now also filling up, the deals are disappearing, and the gap in housing prices is quickly eroding.

In addition, New Hanover County is quickly running out of space for the type of single-family housing developments that are going to be attractive to retirement aged newcomers. Instead, there seems to be a lot of multi-unit apartment complexes being developed on the remaining open land. These types of residences target young families more than any other demographic.

I am no expert in demographics and so I have to admit that my theory that we will see a large spike in the student population over the next 5-10 years is a just a theory. However, I think we need to keep our collective “ears to the pavement” and demand that our local expert county planners keep the school board apprised of population growth trends on a regular basis.

Needed Resources for an Increased Student Population

Once we are able accurately predict a future growth in the student population, we need to act immediately! If we determine that we need new schools in 5 years, we have to act now to make that happen. Land must be acquired, architectural plans made, funding sources found, before a lengthy construction process can begin for a new school that will need to meet extremely demanding code compliance ordinances. This construction process not an overnight one.

In addition to the construction of a new school building, we also need to plan on how we are going to furnish the school with all the furniture, technology, and learning materials that it needs. Also, the school district will have to formulate redistricting plans to determine which neighborhood school certain students will be expected to attend. Finally, we have to staff the new school with teachers, administrators, and staff that can do the job.

All of this takes time, and the longer we delay in planning for student population growth, the costlier and less effective our efforts will become. Once I am elected to the New Hanover County Board of Education, I would support hiring a Deputy Superintendent whose primary task would be to plan for the future growth of our school district.

Steps we need to Take Now

It appears that after 10-15 years of bureaucratic squabbling, we may finally see concrete steps taken soon to build the long-awaited new bridge over the Cape Fear River. Because NCDOT and the other planners have taken so long to get their act together, the cost of acquiring the necessary land on both sides of the river for the new bridge has increased dramatically. The land for this project can legitimately be acquired through eminent domain. However, a fair market value still must be paid to the landowners, and that value has increased exponentially.

As a fiscal conservative, I don’t want to see this sort of increased burden on the taxpayers when it comes to the building of new schools. We need to purchase property for potential new schools now, instead of “kicking the can down the road” until later and having to pay more for this same property. If we end up not needing that new school then we can always sell the property off in the future, and probably make a substantial profit on the sale.

Once I am elected to the New Hanover County Board of Education, I will make the acquisition of land for potential new schools part of the strategic plan and instruct the Superintendent’s Office to begin work in this area of school planning.

My Rationale

Because I am advocating spending taxpayer dollars now for the acquisition of new school district land, some might accuse me of being fiscally irresponsible. However, it is my belief that being “fiscally responsible” doesn’t mean that you will never spend money on anything but current needs. What it does mean is that when you do spend that money it is imperative that you make sure that you are making a wise financial investment for the public.

I believe that the acquisition of this land now is such a wise financial investment. Paying less money now is always better than paying more in the future. Once I am elected to the New Hanover County Board of Education I will always carefully discern between wasteful spending and sound investments for “We the People.”

Got Questions?

I am a Software Engineer by trade and not a Financial Planner. So, if you have input then please Contact Us. I will always make time to listen to voters!