Cumberland County Schools fails to get $50 million grant for new E.E. Smith High School

Steve DeVane, The Fayetteville Observer
·2 min read
The main lobby at E.E. Smith High School.
The main lobby at E.E. Smith High School.

Cumberland County Schools missed out on its bid for a $50 million grant, complicating the school system’s efforts to build a new E.E. Smith High School.

The Board of Education voted in March to apply for a needs-based grant from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s Public School Capital Fund. School officials were hoping the grant would pay for the school, which could cost up to $95 million.

Lindsay Whitley, a school system spokesperson, said school officials are in the beginning stages of the process for a new school.

“We will continue planning,” he said.

Cumberland County school officials will submit another application when possible, he said.

Joe Desormeaux, associate superintendent of auxiliary services, said he thinks the school system can apply again this fall.

More than two dozen school districts will get grants that total nearly $400 million, according to a statement released by the state Department of Public Instruction. The lottery-funded grant awards will pay for school construction, renovation projects and other capital improvements, it said.

Projects that will be funded by the grants include four high schools, a Career and Technical Education Center, and a pre-kindergarten through 12th grade school, the statement said.

More: 'E.E. Smith is in your heart': Alumni, students say legacy means more than school's location

Desormeaux said the state received 176 applications for the grants, which is 11 times as many as had been received when the grants were awarded previously. School systems were seeking a total of $2.7 billion, he said.

Desormeaux told the school board in March that applying for the grant did not commit it to building a new school.

More: Cumberland County Board of Education approves school construction resolution by 6-3 vote

In April, the board voted to ask the county for more than $470 million to replace and renovate schools over the next five years. The anticipated construction costs assumed that the board would get the $50 million grant.

The board’s five-year capital plan calls for building seven new schools, including E.E. Smith. Each of the other six would replace two or more schools.

Local news editor Steve DeVane can be reached at sdevane@fayobserver.com.

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This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Cumberland County Schools fails to get grant for new E.E. Smith