$96 Million Bond Will Fund 26 Onslow County School Construction Projects
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If rising school enrollment is a sign of a successful community, then Jacksonville-Onslow County is doing very well, indeed.
With an increase of 400 students per year – a number that will only grow as the area’s military presence ramps up – the Onslow County school system is rapidly growing.
To make sure there’s room for every child and that the system’s high-quality instructional standards continue to be met, a multifaceted plan is being put into place that will build new schools, reapportion existing populations and create magnet-based elementary campuses.
The system has 23,480 students now and is expected to have upwards of 28,000 by the 2017-18 school year.
The county is 10th out of 100 counties in North Carolina in size, while the school district is 14th out of 115.
To address the rapidly growing student population, the system has gotten out in front to make sure it can plan for sensible, measured growth, says Jeff Hudson, assistant superintendent.
“We have a lot happening right now,” Hudson says. “We’ve just undergone redistricting and evaluated what we need to do at the elementary level.”
The new Meadow View Elementary, a $15.5 million project financed by the county government, will open in August 2008. Another elementary school is planned for the Gum Branch community in 2009 and is a part of a $90 million school-construction bond issue passed in November 2005. That money will be spent on 26 projects over time, but 2004 estimates show that the district will need to spend $237 million on additional facilities in the coming years.
“We’re going to be doing a lot more evaluation, because we expect increases at all levels,” Hudson says.
Story by Joe Morris
