LUMBERTON —The Board of Education of the Public Schools of Robeson County gave the green light Tuesday to move central office operations and staff to the Janie C. Hargrave School campus in East Lumberton on July 1.
The biggest costs will be a parking lot to handle 70 employees and remodeling bathrooms, said Earney Hammonds, district maintenance director. The city of Lumberton approved rezoning the school for offices on Nov. 6.
The vote was unanimous.
The move will save the district $110,000 a year in rent for use of the old BB&T service center on Kahn Drive in Lumberton. Hargrave is one of Robeson’s oldest schools. But several more recent additions have been built on the school’s campus, including a classroom wing in 2002.
“The parking lot is the one big-ticket item, and we can handle the rest in-house,” Hammonds said. “The later you wait, the more difficult it will be for us to get the job done.”
The board did not wait.
“We are no longer in the exploratory stage now. We are on go,” said John Campbell, board chairman.
The next step will be getting prices for paved and gravel parking lot options. Advanced notice also will have to be given to the current landlord.
This will be the central office staff’s fifth move since Hurricane Matthew destroyed its Caton Road office complex in October 2016.
Board members Craig Lowry and Mike Smith added that they expect the move to be temporary and the central office’s ultimate location will be on the 45 acres of land off N.C. 711 that the district bought.
“I don’t want to be in Robeson County if we are building a central office before we build a school,” board member Dwayne Smith said.
The county has not built a new school in more than 40 years.
“If we get FEMA money that stipulates that we must replace what was destroyed, then we will build a central office,” Dwayne Smith said.
He added that the much delayed Federal Emergency Management Agency payment for the destroyed offices and West Lumberton Elementary School may add up to more than $90 million.
In other business, the public schools expect to add six new school resource officers. Two-thirds of the funding for the SROs will come from a state grant and one-third from three municipalities and the county. Lumberton and Robeson County will fund two officers each at a cost of $16,000 each, and Pembroke and St. Pauls will fund one SRO each.
The schools had asked local governments for 13 SROs, one for every school.
“We did not get everything we asked for,” Assistant Superintendent Karen Brooks-Floyd said. “We will place them at the highest need, lowest performing schools.”
The Robeson County Board of Commissioners initially balked at funding any new SROs because the grant does not cover a vehicle, uniforms or other equipment. The county Sheriff’s Office and County Manager Kellie Blue worked out a plan.
“The county worked with us in creative ways to give us two additional school resource officers,” Superintendent Shanita Wooten said.
Townsend, Orrum and Fairmont middle schools each will upgrade from a part-time SRO to a full–time, uniformed officer.
A request from the United Methodist Disaster Relief program to use another of the district’s closed schools met with more questions than answers and was tabled for further study.
The Methodist group has been in Robeson County repairing flood-damaged homes since Hurricane Matthew ravaged the county. The group would use a school as offices and perhaps a dormitory. Green Grove and R.B. Dean, like Janie Hargrave, were shuttered this year as part of a district schools closure and consolidation plan.
Questions about rent, insurance and maintenance went unanswered. Some board members feared that allowing one group to use an empty school may open the door to other requests.
Flood-related issues continue to face the school board. Richard Monroe, vice president of the Robeson County History Museum, asked the board to consider the future of the 19th century era one-room schoolhouse that sits on the flood ravaged campus of the former central office.
“This is a wonderful piece of Robeson County heritage and Native American heritage,” Monroe said. “Help us decide its future.”
The school was built in 1898 to serve American Indian children in the Philadelphus community. It was moved to Lumberton in 1971, and remains in good condition despite being flooded twice.
Monroe said the History Museum at 101 S. Elm St. in Lumberton is exploring the possibility of moving the building to its property.
“We want to make sure that the schoolhouse is preserved and protected for the future,” he said.
The Board of Education’s members also considered and tabled a proposed contract of up to $15,000 with Emily Jones to provide public relations services. Jones also provides public relations services to Robeson County.
Also on Tuesday, the board approved leasing 45 acres to a local farmer for $50 an acre on a year-to-year basis. The land is the planned site of a future central office.
The board members heard that Connie Locklear, director of PSRC’s Indian Education Program, has been elected to the board of directors of the national Indian Education Association.
